


Getting Even

by TiffsRevenge



Series: Together We Stand, Divided We Fall [3]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Grand Theft Auto Setting, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Language, F/M, GTAV AU, Heist, Implied Addiction, Implied Sexual Content, Mild Smut, Original Character Death(s), Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-07-28
Packaged: 2018-04-03 23:47:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4119052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TiffsRevenge/pseuds/TiffsRevenge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The third and final instalment of the 'Together We Stand, Divided We Fall' series.</p><p>Four years after their escape from Los Santos the team are back doing what they love, only this time they have a lot more power. Mainly hidden away in San Andreas the team have an expanded area running around the world, with hundreds more connections thanks to their contact with Ash and Burns.<br/>New commitments and code names allow to focus on the future, but the snitch from their past is still out there and The Red Snakes are still looking for a little revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Four Years On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Kings And Queens - Thirty Seconds To Mars**   
>  **Donatella - Lady GaGa**   
>  **Tear In My Heart - Twenty One Pilots**   
>  **One Way Or Another - Blondie**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

It had been four years since the great prison break that had left the whole of Los Santos police in shock. It had been known throughout the city that The Red Snakes and Fake AH Crew were rivals, what hadn't been quite so published was their truce and collaboration in the game itself so the fact that Fake AH had appeared to break the women out after years of rivalry had shocked everyone in and around Los Santos.

The media of course had lapped it all up, turning on the Los Santos police and FBI departments within hours of the team getting away. It seemed every news station had some form of story against the police, rallying up the numerous crimes and heists that had been committed without the police seeming to give a damn.

The teams had laid pretty low for their first year, sticking within San Andreas mainly, their focus being getting their contacts back together and trusting them again. Most clients seemed all to happy to move back in to San Andreas, the once quiet city being brought back to it's crime hyped youth as more and more criminals, drug lords and small gangs got set up.

The team itself changed and expanded drastically. Thanks to Burnie and Ashley, they now had even more contacts scattered throughout the world, their main powers however still remained in San Andreas and Los Santos. It turned out that not long after they'd left a whole new empire had taken hold of Los Santos. Blondie was new god of the city, with information branches running on for miles throughout the city. She had eyes, ears (and apparently a whole lot of muscle power) everywhere. While she mainly dealt in information and secrets there were always new things to keep her occupied and Gus Sorola had quickly jumped at the opportunity to work with her, taking his team with him but still remaining loyal to Burnie.  
With the new addition of Blondie to their team, ' _Fake Snakes_ ' had grown from a team of eleven, in to an empire of thirty-five. The new additions included an equipment team that consisted of three guys (Jon Risinger, Patrick Rodrigues and Jordan Cwierz), all three coming highly recommended from Ashley and Burnie. They pretty much helped getting any equipment that the team needed in and out of San Andreas, as well as making the team look damn fine with all new fitted body armour and newly ungraded weapons and carriers.  
Blondie's main additions, on top of her information kingdom that was helped along by a nerdy but likeable guy named Kdin, came in the form of muscle power (Blain Gibson, Jeremy Dooley, Dan Gruchy and Josh Flanagan). Her own band of four expressing interest in helping out the most notorious criminal organisations in all of Los Santos in anyway they could.

Of course after three of the Funhaus guys had helped Geoff, Ryan, Hayley and Tina gather their equipment to take back to San Andreas, Ashley had made sure they'd been acquainted with the rest of the guys. What a day that had been.

The flats changed from their housing and bases in to a more business rotated area, with everyone moving out and in to a suburban complex on the far North-East of the same island. It was nice to have separate quarters from the base and since everyone retained their couples it made everything a lot easier, with no one accidentally hearing their team mates in the sack.  
The original flat became much of what the team's previous bases had been, with areas to plan, train, work, and sleep only much much bigger. The teams also had the opportunity to meet some clients face-to-face now, which no one had had the chance to do back in Los Santos. Of course, the face-to-face office meet ups happened on rare occasions and only with trusted clients, new clients were always met by Gavin and Meg who became the 'faces' of Fake Snake.

After almost two years the teams were well on their way, running jobs and gangs throughout not just San Andreas but back in Los Santos as well. And much to the displease of Los Santos officials they'd got even better. Some teams got smaller, causing the media to latch on to the events once they realised that Fake AH and The Snakes we're back on the streets, new code names for the smaller groups turned up as well.  
Hayley and Ryan became known as The Reapers after Ryan bought Hayley a skull mask, identical to his own just slightly smaller. Lindsay and Michael became The Big Bang due to their explosive obsessions. Ray and Tina became Jumpscare after they figured out it was a lot more fun to let the victims know they'd been hacked once the job was finished. While Gavin and Meg became Pretty Face after taking a seat to most jobs and only really being used for infiltration and to run information on potential hit points. The bosses didn't get much of a media name for themselves (mainly down to their place as leader and the media's lack of creativity) and so had named themselves Plan G, with Jack remaining the silent and unknown driver and pilot.

Once Hayley gained her new mask, it had become a frenzied lust with everyone wanting a new mask each job. No one was really against it since it meant that no one could tell who was who and protected the still unknown identities of the former Fake AH Crew.

It actually became a fun game after a job where everyone involved would gather round at one house to watch the news reports. One channel in particular loved the masks, and never failed to make some comment on them like they were next big thing in high street fashion.

All in all life got pretty good. Good enough in fact that the crew decided to take a few holidays, not at the same time of course, but over the next two years everyone took a minimum of two breaks. Ryan, Hayley, Meg and Gavin, took a trip to Switzerland meeting up the sister's mother there. Both boys had been on their best behaviour, knowing that this had been the women who taught their girlfriends everything they knew, but she turned out to be a lovely person and not the blood curdling lunatic that the guys had been expecting.  
The aunts on the other hand were a whole different ball game. Auntie Sue was whirlwind of fast language and jokes while Aunt Clarie was very proper, speaking mainly in French and Latin to the couples, she'd not seemed too happy when the girls had to translate any questions she directed at the boys but brushed it off after she caught the four training.

After a week with the family Ryan had nervously asked the three women permission to ask Hayley to marry him. With a lot of multilingual discussion Hayley's mother had agreed, on the condition that Hayley kept her last name, Amnisty, in remembrance of her father. Ryan had agreed profusely, asking Hayley to marry him that evening with a platinum and diamond ring. A small wedding ceremony had taken place a few months later back in San Andreas, all of team that were in San Andreas at the time attended as well as Hayley mother and aunties, giving the rest of the team a chance to meet them before they flew back to Switzerland.  
Meg had also jet set to England with Gavin to meet him parents and brother. As it turned out Gavin had come from a very different upbringing, where none of his family knew that he was a wanted criminal throughout Los Santos and San Andreas or that he'd killed probably hundreds of people without a second thought. It had be a strange but pleasant trip, allowing Meg the chance to feel like a normal person and not a multilingual, killing machine.

 

The latest heist had been a big-ish one, with almost everyone from the main team getting involved. It had been a hit on one of the large banks with in the centre of Los Santos, and it was fair to say that it had drawn a lot of attention from everyone in the Los Santos area. It had been huge and successful with the media running multiple stories on it that evening.

Everyone was sat in Hayley and Ryan's house. The team sprawled across the two couches, arm chair and floor as they watched the news, drinks and smokes in hand. Cinematic shots of Lindsay and Michael dunking behind a car as one of their many explosions went off, small video clips of Hayley and Ryan protecting the van as Tina and Ray climbed down from their sniping spots and in to the back before climbing in themselves, a hail of bullets in their wake.  
As always each new report ended with a police call for information, their heights and builds broadcast for the world to see. At some point someone would call out the information as bullshit when the report got one of the guy's heights wrong or pointed some of the girls out to be of bigger builds than they were. The usual grainy CCTV pictures and mug shots of the four girls we're scanned through, the police's anonymous contact number on the bottom of the screen. Ryan always tensed slightly beside Hayley whenever the mug shots we're shown. The bruise and cuts that ran across Hayley's cheek a constant remained that they'd been captured and abused. It seemed that Ryan still wanted revenge, but no matter how many cops he shot or sliced or broke the necks of, he was never satisfied.

Of course, Ryan wasn't the only one seeking revenge, all of The Red Snakes still held a personal vendetta against Josephine for stabbing them in the back. But they had Blondie keeping an eye on her in Los Santos. They couldn't move against her while she was there, there was still too much activity in the city and Blondie's team made it clear that she was being monitored 24/7 by LSPD. They had to wait, and while it was torture everyone kept themselves busy with work, jobs, and clients.


	2. Back To Business

"Ryan! I'm home!" Hayley called, pushing open the door of her house and dropping the suitcase from her three day trip on the floor as she turned to close the door, hanging her coat on the hook beside it, "Jesus you wouldn't believe the traffic coming out of the city it's..." she cut off as she turnd, Ryan capturing her mouth with his as his wrapped tightly around her waist. She kissed back, her arms wrapping around his neck, small beads of water dampening her arms from where they fell off Ryan's hair. Finally separating Ryan took a step back, his hands still on Hayley's waist as she finished her sentence breathlessly, "...it's like someone blew up everything along the main road," Ryan grinned at her.

"Sorry about that, Christ I missed you," he laughed picking Hayley up bridal style and spinning her around. Hayley laughed, kissing his cheek as he placed her back down.

"I missed you too," her hands locked in the damp hair at the back of his head as she kissed him deeply, Ryan growled deep in his throat as he clawed down the shirt covering Hayley's back causing her to bend against him. Reluctantly he released her as she pulled away slightly, pressing their foreheads together, "but no matter how much I missed you, I need to eat," as if on cue, Hayley stomach growled loudly. Being on body guard duty meant that she ate very little, very irregularly and she was starving for something more than a 3am sandwich.

Ryan narrowed his eyes at the growling organ, "Spoil sport," he muttered toward it. Hayley laughed pushing him away and turning toward the kitchen with Ryan in tow.

"Please tell me we have something decent in the fridge," Hayley groaned, pulling open the large fridge freezer and staring at the barren insides. She moaned, pulling out the last of the milk intending to make herself some coffee, "I thought you was going to go shopping before I came back?" Ryan perched on one of the bar stools as she span to face him. He shrugged, an apologetic grimace covering his face,

"Sorry, time kinda got away from me," Ryan admitted, jumping off the stool as Hayley clambered on to the counter in order to reach the coffee reserves that Ryan enjoyed keeping on the highest shelf in the cupboard, "I'll go see if any of the others have some bacon and eggs we can steal," Hayley nodded to him, jumping off the counter with coffee in hand.

"You do that, and once I've had a shower we're going food shopping, since it seems you've been living on take out these past three days," Hayley said as she spied the multiple takeaway cartons crushed in the recycling bin. Ryan grinned sheepishly as he disappeared out the door in his boxers and t-shirt, one upside to living in a sort of enclave that only your friends lived in. He decided to check Gavin's house first since it was the closest, ringing the doorbell.

He stood at the door, listening as footsteps ran down the stairs inside followed by a loud squawk and a thud. A shadow appeared at the door as Gavin tugged it open, rubbing his shoulder where he'd hit the wall, Ryan raised an eyebrow at him in question.

"Cat got under my feet," Gavin explain gesturing behind him where Smee was sat washing his face with his paw, "what's up?"

"Just wondering if you've got any bacon or eggs I could steal, Hayley just got back from her job and I forgot to go shopping while she was away," Ryan crossed his arms, hanging his head.

"Erm, I don't think I do actually, I'm in the same boat as you, Meg doesn't get back till tomorrow so I should probably do some shopping," Gavin explain, committing the thought to memory, "I think Jack and Caiti would be your best bet, she always keeps their fridge stocked," Ryan thanked him turning and padding down the porch steps and across the road. Jack and Caiti lived a bit further up the road but Gavin was right in saying that they were the better ones to ask for food. They we're pretty much the mummy and daddy of the team when it came to domestics.

Ryan tapped on the door, listening as the dogs started to bark; a grouchy Jack pulling the door open with a yawn, "Morning Ryan, what's up?" he asked rubbing his eye against the sun.

"Just wondering if you and Caiti had any breakfast stuff I could knick? Hayley's craving bacon and eggs," Ryan asked, Jack nodded gesturing for Ryan to follow him as he turned back inside the house. Ryan followed giving each of the dogs a head scratch as he followed Jack in to the kitchen where Caiti was sitting at the breakfast bar, a piece of toast in one hand and a book in the other, "Morning Caiti," Ryan greeted staying in the door as Jack searched the fridge. Caiti looked up and him and smiled,

"Hey Ryan, Hayley back yet?" she asked placing her book on the side.

"Yeah she just got back and is already demanding eggs and bacon,"

"And you forgot to go shopping while she was away again," Caiti guessed, spying Jack as he pulled a packet of bacon and carton of eggs from the fridge. Ryan nodded sheepishly as Jack came toward him carrying the ingredients and a carton of milk.

"I'm going to guess you don't have enough milk for the amount of coffee she's gonna want," Jack laughed. Ryan nodded taking the food and thanking him as he jogged back toward his own home. He could hear the shower running once he got inside and decided to start making the breakfast so it'd be ready once she got out.

Hayley came in to the kitchen just as Ryan was plating up, another steaming cup of coffee waiting for her as she sat down, Ryan placing the food in front of her and sitting beside her with his own,

"Jack and Caiti alright?" Hayley asked knowingly digging in to her food.

Ryan nodded, "Yeah still living up the title of domestic parents, how was your job?" he asked stabbing a piece of bacon and chewing it while Hayley spoke.

"The usual, very little sleep, very little food, no action, no speaking while on duty, all very boring...although" Hayley moaned pausing while she ate some of her food, "I did get to see Blondie's office building for a second as we drove past it," Ryan raised a brow at that. As it was none of them, other than Burnie and Ashley, had spoken directly to or seen Blondie and considering that she was their main link to Josephine's movements it was odd.

The rest of the morning was spent in relative normality. Hayley sent Ryan to get dressed once they'd finished breakfast while she caught up on the news before the two of them went shopping. It was all sickening domestic and made Hayley want to get back to her usual business quickly, of course neither Ryan or Hayley ended up at the office block before they showed each other how much they'd been missed and showered again.

 

Stepping in to the office always made the team's feel safer especially since there always seemed to be people around. Burnie and Ashley had enlisted a receptionist by the name of Steffie. Of course the idea of having a receptionist had gone through every one of the main eleven, especially Tina since she'd have to give the newbie access to her security layout.  
Since arriving at the base Tina had gone through several different forms of security, pin codes, thumb prints, voice recognition, she'd finally decided on key cards that everyone within the main team wore and kept. The only people that didn't keep them we're mercenaries and any hired help and even then the cards that they did have only gave then access to the ground floor, conference rooms, lounge area and certain bedrooms.

Hayley and Ryan scanned themselves in, walking in to the lobby and greeting Steffie as they headed toward the elevators. Everyone but the team only knew each other by surnames, it wasn't to make them sound unapproachable or more powerful than the others, it was purely for protection purposes, but it was still a slight shock even after three years of the system being in place when Steffie called after them,

"Hey Haywood, Amnisty," she called. The pair turned back around to face her as she held a post-it note out to them, "you've got a client waiting, conference room B," Hayley took the note, reading over the brief and scrawly writing, Felix? He usually emailed first? Hayley thanked her, handing the note to Ryan who frowned before they continued toward the elevators.

"What could Felix want?" Ryan asked as they stepped in to the small space scanning his card so they could get to their bases.

"Don't know, but it must be important if he wants to talk to you, me and the bosses," Hayley shrugged stepping out on her floor, and giving Ryan a quick peck on the cheek before the doors closed and he went to his base.

Despite all the joint work the teams now did, they still enjoyed having their own spaces to talk things over. It also made it bearable since certain couples had the habit of being overly flirtatious with each other and stopped everyone from gagging.

"Hey guys," Hayley greeted, stepping in to the base where Tina and Lindsay were sat, they waved briefly returning to what they doing, "Boss about?" she asked, grabbing a red bull from the fridge and cracking it.

"With Meg in her office," Tina replied bluntly, her eyes focused on the AutoCad program she was running to help her design some new gear, "I think they're going over Japanese again since Grif has a job there in two weeks," Hayley nodded, thanking her before walking toward Griffon's office. The new base was great. It was almost three times the size of their old basement and gave a lot better views meaning that the mood was usually a lot better. Everyone also had their own office, so their weren't six computers spilling their heat in to each other, and they actually had space to move around each other and work.

Hayley knocked before entering, hearing the slow muffling of Japanese subside, "Agatte!" ( _Come in!_ ) Griffon called. Hayley pushed open the door with a smile.

"Nihongo nomi," ( _Japanese only_ " Meg told her, Hayley rolled her eyes, she'd hadn't spoken Japanese in a long time. She sighed, falling in to the Japanese that she'd been taught from an early age.

"Ferikkusu wa koko ni aru, to kare wa watashitachi ni hanashi o suru hitsuyō ga arimasu," ( _Felix is here, and he needs to talk to us_ ) Hayley said, Griffon stared at her blankly before turning to Meg and shrugging, Meg sighed answering Hayley, 

"Watashitachi no subete no 3ttsu no?" ( _All three of us?_ ) 

"Īe, yuiitsu no gurifon to watashi," ( _No, just me and Griffon_ ) Hayley told her, all the while Griffon stared between the two. Their language was casual and easy, it made Griffon jealous that she hadn't been taught any other languages from childhood.

Meg nodded, turning to Griffon, "Felix is here to see you and Hayley," Griffon 'oh'd' to herself, nodding and standing up to follow Hayley out. They met Geoff and Ryan outside the conference room and together they went inside.


	3. Clients

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Dealer - Gemini Club**   
>  **American Trash - Innerpartysystem**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

Inside Felix was stood looking out over the city, his back to the door. He turned smiling widely at the small group, pushing his black hair back against his skull.

"Griffon! My dear it's good to see you!" he laughed, striding toward them and taking Griffon's face between his hands, kissing her firmly on each cheek, "and Hayley, my favourite little psycho, how are you? So sorry I missed the wedding," Hayley smiled at him as he clutched her face kissing her on the cheeks.

"I've been very well thank you Felix, and this is actually the man himself," Hayley grinned stepping from between Felix and Ryan, "Felix, this is Ryan my husband," Ryan nodded to the smaller man as his eyes widened scanning Ryan up and down before laughing manically.

"My dear, you really caught yourself a good one didn't you!" he stepped forward, standing on tip toe as he kissed Ryan's cheeks before grabbing his hand in a firm grip, "such a pleasure to finally meet the other Reaper! I can recognise my child's work anywhere but you have proved a perfect match for her," Felix smiled between the couple taking Hayley's hand as he spoke and kissing both their knuckles. He turned quickly, dropping their hands, He swept his arms out dramatically as his gaze landed on Geoff, "Geoff Ramsey what a pleasure, tell me, are all your boys kept to such a high standard?" he joked, Geoff chuckled nervously as his cheeks were kissed.

"I can a sure you they're all very well kept and unfortunately spoken for Felix," Griffon laughed, the business man pouted crossing his arms high on his chest, "now if you'd like to take a seat, I'm guessing this isn't a domestic call? What business do you have for us?"

Felix smiled, taking a seat at the head of the table with two of the team on each side him as he explained what was happening. Due to Felix's business in equipment it wasn't unusual for him call a couple of the team in as back up during swaps and exchanges, and having some of the best known killers on his side was always a bonus that made his life easier.

"Now as I understand it, you guys have come in to a lot of new contacts, some of them being my associates... Jon Risinger, Patrick, Cwierz," Felix explained, the team nodded, they'd worked closely with the trio when they could and were actually due a fitting for new armour, "now, I have a heavy shipment of high explosive and dangerous material coming in that I need to get to them, unfortunately, life in Los Santos isn't exactly favourable of me right now, that's where you guys come in," Felix smiled, reaching to his side where he had a brief case, and pulling out a couple folders. He handed one to each side, the teams instinctively beginning to leaf through it.

The numbers that Felix was talking weren't small by any means they were extraordinary, at least two maybe three trucks worth of stuff which meant it'd be a six person job at minimum. Felix watched as the expressions of the team changed, taking in the scale of this operation before he spoke again,

"Of course I shall provide the vehicles and weaponry should you need it, I'll also give you a forty percent cut of what I'm earning from this and you may help yourselves to a weapon each," Felix bargained sitting straight in his chair and lacing his fingers in front of him as the team thought about his offer.

"When does the shipment get in?" Hayley asked, numbers were all well and good, but they needed dates to see if they had the people available.

Felix sighed, "Two days,"

Griffon groaned, quickly trying to run over everyone schedules in her head,

"Felix, what happened to two weeks notice? We're trying to run a business here," she asked, pushing the paper away from her and staring at her client as he fidgeted in his chair.

"I wouldn't ask this close to the line if it wasn't urgent," Felix pleaded. Hayley had been planning things over in her head too. She knew that she was free this next week (they always had it so you had a 'rest' after a long trip), Grif was mainly prepping for her Japan job and she didn't think Lindsay had anything planned? As for the guys, she couldn't say. They still kept their businesses separate unless there was a joint job, and even they were kept professional and directed like any other client job would be.

"Up the cut to fifty and we get two weapons," Hayley told Felix who stared at her, "you know how choosy Lindsay gets with her explosives," Hayley gave him the puppy dog eyes, pouting her bottom lip out slightly. Felix whined in the back of his throat, but threw his hand out toward Hayley who grabbed it immediately,

"You drive a hard bargain my dear, but that is why you're the best," he laughed as he shook hands with the rest of the group, both males seemed pretty much numb to the exchange. They'd never met any of Red Snakes closest clients, it was one avenue that they'd been sure to keep closed off from Fake AH during their co-operation.

Once everyone had agreed and Felix had gathered all of his paper work back together, he stood, "As always it's a pleasure, I'll have my assistant send Tina the location and time details," he said, walking toward the door and in to the hall with the rest of the team following him as he walked toward the elevators. He smiled as he kissed Griffon and Hayley on the cheek again, moving to the two guys and kissing them both on the cheek as well, "It was lovely to finally meet you, Geoff, Ryan," he told them stepping in to the elevator and disappearing. The whole group let out a deep breath as the elevator whirred, Geoff was the first to speak,

"Jesus Christ is he always that intense?" he squeaked Hayley and Griffon nodded stiffly their eyes wide, "and how the hell did he know our names? And about your wedding?" Hayley shrugged, not too put of by the information.

"He has eyes and ears everywhere, he does send lovely presents though," Hayley smiled walking toward the lounge areas to grab a drink before she got back to work, while Griffon and Geoff set off back to the bases to brief Lindsay and Michael.

"Wait so he's the 'F' that sent you the jewel encrusted Day of the Dead half-face mask?" Ryan asked shaking himself out of his shock as he jogged after Hayley in to the communal kitchen. She nodded pulling a Dr. Pepper from the fridge and handing a Diet Coke to Ryan.

"The very same, I should actually wear that for a gig one day, would be a laugh," she said with smile. Ryan took the Coke, frowning at her slightly as she bumped his arm, "come on, Felix isn't that bad, at least he approved of you," Ryan nodded following Hayley back toward the elevators.

"Yeah I guess, that's an upside..." he mumbled taking a long swig of his Coke as he stepped in to the elevator beside Hayley, "still, he's fucking intense," Hayley laughed pulling him out at her base where Griffon and Geoff were sat at the heist table, running Lindsay and Michael though the number's Felix had sent them. Tina had moved from her AutoCad and was busy 3D printing a prototype of her new tracking device while Meg was sat pouting on the kitchen cabinet. Hayley caught her eye stopping to talk to her sister while Ryan joined the others,

"What's up?" she asked, pulling herself on the counter top.

"Kanojo wa mada nihongo o gakushū suru hitsuyō ga arimasu," ( _She still needs to learn Japanese_ ) she moaned, her voice tired as she glared at Griffon.

"Hey, you still got time," Hayley comforted, Meg rolled her head toward her sister, giving her the evil eye, "Tonikaku, anata wa idaina kyōshidesu," ( _And anyway, you're a great teacher,_ ) Hayley smiled at her younger sister.

"Hayley!" Griffon called to the sisters, "Koko de anata o hitsuyō to shite kudasai," ( _need you here please_ ) Griffon smiled at them as Hayley jumped down from the counter, giving her sister's hand a quick squeeze before joining the rest of the team.

Meg smiled at the fact that her teaching wasn't falling on deaf ears, it also helped that Griffon was a fast learner. Not finding anything to do in the base she decided to go train, sending a quick text to Gavin to see if he was busy before going to change in to a set of gym clothes. Gavin said that he was just finishing up his ammo check then he'd be down to their training area and he'd meet Meg there.


	4. Perks Of The Job?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Daylights End - League of Legends**   
>  **Dirty Road - Mother Mother**   
>  **Cinderblock Garden - All Time Low**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

It was two days later and Hayley, Griffon and Lindsay were sat on the dock on the North-West side of Los Santos, their guns hanging loosely from the holders on their hips. Geoff, Ryan and Michael were up by the trucks, keeping look out for the team while they picked up Felix's load. The cold night air whipped across the small areas of skin that were bare. The cold drafts that swept along the dock caused the girl's to shiver slightly as a shadow emerged from the darkness, the boat carrying the good signalled to them by the light as it worked it way through the water toward the dock.

"They're here, get ready to load up guys," Grif said in to her mic as two thick planks were shoved off the boat, landing with a thud against the dock. All three women pulled their masks down (Hayley in her signature skull, Grif in a pumpkin face mask and Lindsay in a sock puppet mask) walking toward the crew as they moved off the boat. On board they just make out the crew shifting the large cages of weaponry around the deck. Stepping in to the light the team couldn't help but smile behind their masks as the two crew members that had got off first jumped at the sight of them.

"Fuck no one said we were dealing with the freak show," the crew member joked, clutching his chest as his heart hammered behind his ribs. He heard a small muffled chuckle from behind the masks of the three people in front of him.

"We're the freaks Felix sent to retrieve his goods," Grif said, her voice was calm but serious as she gestured at Tuggs and América. The crew members looked at each other and shrugged, gesturing to the people on the boat who began moving the cages down the planks.

The teams had worked it so they could get away with three moving trucks to move the material. Each truck could carry about three cages each with a little extra if they drove carefully. The route they were taking wouldn't be the easiest; cutting around the bottom of Chiliad on a dirt track toward a bridge where they'd cross over the river, from there they were pretty much following the rail tracks until they got to Joshua Road. The Experiment Team's base was out on Panorama Road surround by a ton of red neck and hic residence, it was pretty decent cover except for them all being pretty well dressed gents, Patrick was the only one that really fit in around there and so he was main one that went outside.

As soon as the first cages hit the dock América and Tuggs came in to action taking the goods and pushing them up the dock toward the guys who would load them in to the trucks, it was a quick system but tiring since the pair had to jog back and forth with the cages in order to keep them moving on the uneven boards, and soon all ten cages we're packed in to the trucks (the tenth cage having been opened and the boxes inside distributed between the three trucks). Grif thanked the crew and waited until their boat was out of sight before jogging up the dock to the rest of her team, pulling off her mask. She made it just as they were closing the doors of the last truck, Lindsay pulling off her mask with a loud breath,

"Hayley, Ryan, no idea how the hell you guys wear those fucking masks, they're hot as hell!" she moaned, pushing the small bits of hair that had soaked to her forehead back. Hayley laughed pulling of her own mask and dropping on the passenger seat of Ryan truck as she turned to face her. The black grease paint that both she and Ryan used to paint their eyes had smudged down her face because of the sweat,

"Trust us, we know," she laughed, spying Ryan's matching raccoon eyes as he joined them from the back of his truck, "but hey, you gotta keep up appearances," she shrugged climbing in to the truck. Lindsay shook her head climbing in to the driver's seat of the third truck while Geoff and Griffon took the head of the convoy. Each truck started, the engines rattling in to life before they set off out of the dock; across the road and on to the dirt track that ran between the base of Chiliad and the river.

Most of the convoy was a quiet trip with the low blast of the heaters cutting through the comfortable silence. It may have been spring now but the evenings were still cold, especially this close to the water. It was slow going on the dirt road, sheer rock faces and steep curves didn't really mix with the heavy cargo that each of the team were carrying.  
It was almost three in the morning by the time the trucks pulled in to the dirt driveway of their drop-off point, Geoff climbed out buzzing the garage door and waiting,

"Yep?" A very sleepy sounding voice echoed from the speaker.

"Hey guys, got you your toys off Felix," Geoff replied. rubbing his arms against the cold as a buzz came from inside the building and the two double garage doors began to open. Geoff ran back in to his truck pulling off the hand break and pulling in to the clean garage, with Ryan and Lindsay pulling up either side of him.

Inside the garage gave way from desert dust in to polished concrete. Long florescent bulbs hung from the ceiling casting everything in a washed-out light, three ramps led up from the vehicle bed to a raised platform with a wide doorway at one end. As the teams began climbing out Patrick and Jon emerged from the door pushing it open and placing two hooks, that were attached to the walls, through the handles.

"Morning kids!" Hayley greeted waving as she made her way around the truck. Patrick and Jon groaned in response, making their way toward the centre ramp.

"Why are you happy, this early?" Patrick groaned, leaning against Ryan's truck as he climbed in to the back to retrieve the first cage, while Jon moved to help Lindsay and Michael.

"She's been drinking nothing but energy drinks and soda since we landed," Ryan yawned, lowing the back of the truck with two cages on it. Patrick nodded grabbing one cage and hauling up the ramp, Hayley zipping past him with their own trolley so she could gather up the products they'd had to spread out.

"So how'd the pick-up go anyway? Any problems?" Jon asked pushing one of the cages through the door.

"Didn't seem like it," Geoff replied as he tried to pull another of the cages up a ramp, Griffon helping him by pushing the other side,

"No they were all pretty quiet, although the girls and me did give them a bit of a jumpscare," she laughed.

"Well y'all did kind of look like something out of Nightmare Before Christmas," Ryan added as he climbed back in to the truck to retrieve his last cage, being careful not to bump Hayley as she ran about behind him, picking up the last few boxes.

"Fair enough then, let just get this lot inside and in to the shop so we can get to bed, you guys staying?" Jon asked directing Geoff through the building toward their main work area.

"Erm, I'm not sure, I know we have a jet waiting for us at the air strip just South of here," Griffon told him, navigating a cage around the numerous tables and wires.

"Well you guys may as well stay since I need to do your fittings anyway, we've got a safe location just a little way from here that you can sleep at," Jon said, wiping his hands on his pants and stepping out of the way as the other cages were pushed inside the now very cramped room.

"Sounds good to me, how about you guys?" Geoff asked turning to the rest of the team who all nodded wearily, except for Hayley who was bouncing on the balls of her feet with Ryan trying to keep her still by holding her shoulders, "Looks like we're staying," Jon nodded.

"Alright, come on then, we'll organise this shit tomorrow, then Jordan can help Pat while I get you all sorted with that new body armour," Jon said, his sentence slowly dying as he fought off a yawn, gesturing for everyone to leave as he shut off the lights, everyone making their way back toward the trucks. Jon told the team that he'd drive with Patrick in the passenger seat, and no one argued about sitting in the back as everyone climbed in, holding on to the straps that were used to keep the cages in place as the truck pulled out of the garage. Patrick turned everything off and locked the door before climbing in beside Jon, settling in to the seat while Jon drove toward the safe house.

The safe house itself was actually a converted factory. It wasn't pretty but it was dry and warm with decent beds, a working kitchen area, and a couple bathrooms, so there wasn't really much to complain about. Plus it worked as an easy getaway place since it sat among the hills in a small area called Harmony. Jon pulled in to the factory, turning off the truck and getting out. He could hear the low mumbles of the crew through the truck walls as they shuffled about cringing slightly at the light when he opened the doors.

Every one of them was shattered, even Hayley's buzz had worn off and left her an exhausted dead weight as Ryan helped her out, following Patrick to their room while he made jokes about her need for caffeine being her kryptonite. Jon helped the others out of the truck, closing it behind them and showing them to their bedrooms before retreating to his own. Everyone fell asleep the instant they're heads in the hit the pillows. It'd been a hectic couple days trying to run the business and get this organised in the limited time they had, but even so night and early morning jobs were always the worst.

 

It took a couple moments for everyone to to remember where they were when they woke up a couple hours later. Hayley's head ached as she pushed herself up in to a sitting position, the thin duvet falling off her torso and leaving it open to the cold breeze that was running through the factory. She stretched peering around her. Her clothes were sat in a pile on top of one of the boxes with Ryan's neatly folded beside them, their weapons still hung in their holsters from a couple nails that had been jammed in to the wall. Light was filtering through the grime of the high window, warming the small areas of duvet that it hit.

"Mmmm, good morning," Ryan said huskily as his arms crept around her hips, his head leaning against her thigh. Hayley smiled down at him, playing with his hair and moving a few strands behind his ears.

"Good morning you," she said placing a small kiss on his shoulder causing him to hum slightly and tighten his arms around her, "come on, it sounds like most of the others are already awake, we need to move," Ryan groaned turning his head in to the crease between Hayley's hip and thigh, nipping at the skin slightly in protest. Hayley stiffened as shivers moved up her spine, her hand tightening in his hair slightly. Ryan pushed himself up beside her, placing a hand on her cheek and turning her head toward him, Hayley felt herself soften as Ryan's gaze caught her own. His eyes raking down her toned torso and back glancing at her lips as he moved toward her, she was snapped out of her hypnosis by her phone ringing from within the pile of clothes, it's vibrate rattling the crate loudly; she pushed Ryan away quickly and he fell back on the bed with a defeated groan as Hayley moved to answer the call, pulling the phone from her jean's pocket.

"Hello?" she called, trying to calm her heart rate.

"Well at least you're picking up, thought you'd all died when I couldn't get a hold of Griffon or Geoff," Meg answered, she sounded annoyed and really far away through the phone.

"Yeah sorry about that, Equipment hooked us with a place to get some rest since we're due a fitting anyway, we should be back this evening," Hayley told her, wandering back toward the bed with the clothes as she starting pulling the too tight jeans on to her legs with one hand.

"Fair enough, well we're about an hour away from landing in Los Santos so we'll meet you at their work space," Meg said, Hayley stopped for a second.

"We? Why are you coming to Los Santos?"

"Yeah, me, Gav, Tina, Ray, Jack, we need fitting to y'know," Meg laughed, "oh, and Jacks brought Caiti with him,"

"So who's at the base?" Hayley asked, keeping the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she shimmed the jeans over her butt and hips, fastening them and pulling her t-shirt from the pile. She wasn't too fazed by Caiti being there, they were only training, it'd probably be good for her to actually see them in action and rest her worries about her being in danger.

"Burnies there all day, Steffies at the reception till nine tonight, and Ashley said she'd been back in the base about three, plus there's at least ten mercenaries wandering around," Meg told her. Hayley pulled the phone away from her ear to check the time as she pulled her top over her head, not bothering with a bra since she never wore one when she was fighting so it made more sense to get fitted without one, she pressed her screen to the home page, 11:23am.

"Alright then, well I'll go get everyone else up and meet you at the trio's base in about an hour or so," Hayley said getting up to grab her boots and jacket.

"See you in about an hour, ti amo," (... _love you_ ) Meg said.

"anch'io ti amo," ( _Love you too_ ) she replied, ending the call as she slipped her feet in to her boots, not bothering to lace them up as she turned back around to Ryan who had dozed off again, his toned arms flung over his face. Hayley shook her head at him as she jumped across the bed, straddling his waist and causing him to jump and place a hand on her waist out of instinct, "Come on up! I'll make you a coffee," Hayley laughed as Ryan attempted to push her off by whacking her with a pillow.

"Fine!" Ryan groaned. Hayley hopped off him, walking toward the door and dodging the pillow as it was flung at her back, sticking her tongue out at him as she closed the door behind her. She was shocked to find most of the group already sat around in the kitchen and living areas below her. Lindsay was nursing a cup of coffee with Michael beside her chewing a piece of toast while looking through the paper. While Jon and Patrick were in the living area, pieces of paper strewn on the table in front of them with sketchy designs littering their surface.

"Hey Rismonger!" Hayley shouted, leaning over the metal bannister that ran across the whole second level, Jon looked up at her.

"Morning!" he called back, "Ryan awake?"

"Just about, where's Grif and Geoffrey?" she asked.

Jon pointed to her right side, "three doors down from you!" Hayley gave him a thumbs up, and wandered across the landing and banging on the couple's door before opening it.

"Come on guys can't stay in bed forever," she said, pushing the door wide as she stepped in, "Jesus Christ Geoff put some clothes on!" she yelled shielding her eyes as she caught sight of the man's buttocks while Griffon was swaddled in the duvet, just her streaked blonde hair visible against the pillow. The couple groaned, while Hayley stayed in the doorway, her hand still clamped over her eyes, "Meg and the others are gonna be at Equipment's place in an hour, so get dressed!" she yelled in to the room slamming the door as she heard the bed shift. She moved her hand from her eyes and walked back up the landing, Ryan stepping out from their bedroom in front of her. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed how flustered she looked; she shook her head,

"Why is it always me that sees Geoff naked?" she asked, trying to shake the image from her mind. Ryan shrugged,

"No idea, but I've had my fair share too," he told her wrapping an arm around her shoulder and planting a light kiss on the top of her head, "he's not a bad looking guy to be fair," he joked.

Hayley let out a laugh, "Hey don't you go leaving me for your boss, I don't care how good looking he is," she said, poking Ryan in his side, "anyway, I'm not saying he's bad looking, but it's like seeing your dad naked... know what I mean?" Ryan cringed but nodded, removing his arm from Hayley's shoulder as she walked down the stairs and toward the kitchen where two steaming cups of coffee were waiting on the counter.

"Thanks Linds," Hayley smiled, pulling one of the cups to her lips, not caring that it burnt her tongue slightly.

Lindsay shook her head, "Wa'n't me," she told them sleepily, pointing to her boyfriend who was now sat with Jon and Patrick grinning at some of their designs.

"Shit, thanks Michael!" she called, grabbing his attention as she and Ryan lifted their mugs in the air. He smiled at them, holding up his own cup before returning to the sketches, turning to Jon to ask about something he'd written on them, Lindsay wandering over to join them as Griffon and Geoff's footsteps echoed across the landing and down the stairs.

"Well don't we all look sickeningly domestic," Geoff teased, his lip curling as he took in the small scene and earning a sharp smack off Griffon against his shoulder.

"Except for the fact we're in a converted factory, all still carrying weapons and, that truck was carrying weaponry a few hours ago," Ryan shot back nodding toward the truck that was sat just below the platform that everything else was on, "now shut up and drink your coffee, we've got work to do," he added gesturing to the coffee jug that Griffon was already reheating. Geoff frowned at him slightly,

"Looks like someone didn't get any this morning," he muttered under his breath joining Griffon. Ryan shook his head necking the last of his coffee and walking toward one of the back doors so he wouldn't be seen from the road. Hayley watched him go.

Geoff could be annoying, especially when he acted like he wasn't a part of (if not the start of) their whole 'domestic' thing. But it seemed that Ryan had been getting a lot more annoyed lately, especially at his boss. Ryan was a good guy and loved his team to bits but he'd seriously been contemplating going back to his old life for a while as a 'Psycho for Hire' but he knew couldn't do that to the team, not now, not when things were so good, and he especially couldn't do it Hayley. The crew was more than just a job for her, it was her family, even more so since Meg had joined full time.

Ryan sighed, pulling his hands down his face as he leant against the stone wall of the factory, kicking at the sand with his shoe. He reached in to his jacket pulling out a half crushed pack of cigarettes and a lighter, pulling one out and letting the flame flicker across the end while he inhaled deeply. He didn't smoke often, most twenty packs could last him through a month with a couple spares, he only smoked when he was annoyed or really wanted to punch something. Although he did admit to smoking when he missed Hayley, since she smoked the smell of it comforted him and reminded him of her.  
Of course, Hayley didn't like him smoking, it had been a habit she'd picked up during her time in Amsterdam as a way to rebel against her mother, but all it had done for her was give her a shorter temper and slightly stained fingers.

Ryan shook his head and scrubbed the dirt and remaining grease paint from his eyes with his hand as he heard someone approaching the door. With half of the fag still smoking between his fingers; the ash lingering around his feet there was no way he could hide why he was out there as Hayley pushed the door open, letting it close behind her. She sighed when she saw him, crossing her arms across her chest,

"Yes I know you don't like it, save me the speech, please," Ryan said sarcastically, taking another drag and glaring at the ground in front of him.

"You know he's only joking," Hayley's voice was soft beside him. Ryan turned to look at her, her eyes were wide and begging while her lips fought against the straight line of her mouth, curving it in to a small smile.

"I know he is, but it still pisses me off when he acts like he wasn't one of the first to get all ' _domestic_ '," he said, spitting the last word as he turned his attention to the ground again. Hayley shifted beside him so she was also leant against the wall, "you want the last of this?" he asked, offering her the last quarter of his cigarette. Hayley shook her head, still taking the butt between her fingers and finishing it in two long drags before flicking it to the ground and grinding it in to the dirt with her heel.

"I'm a bad influence on you Mr. Haywood," Hayley mumbled squinting up at him through the sun. Ryan chuckled pulling her against him and resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"Narr, we're just a pair of nut jobs Mrs. Haywood," he retorted, Hayley grinned nestling against his side despite the heat from the sun. It was rare that she got called Mrs. Haywood since she kept her father's name, but when she did get to hear it she enjoyed it. It reminded her that she had someone that actually wanted her and would protect her at all costs, just like she'd protect him no matter what it took. "Well come on then you, the others land in like half hour so we need to get back to work," Ryan nodded, pulling her in to a tight hug.

"I love you," he whispered, releasing Hayley slightly so they could look at each other. Hayley smiled,

"I love you," she whispered back, clutching his jacket as she kissed him, his arms tight around her waist.

"Hey, you guys ready to go?" came a voice from outside of them, they separated turning to see Lindsay standing kind of awkwardly at the door. The pair nodded, following her inside where Geoff and Griffon were sat on the back of the truck with Patrick in the driver's seat. Jon and Michael were just finishing rinsing the cups out but quickly joined the others, Michael climbing in to the back of the truck with Geoff and Griffon followed by Lindsay, Ryan and Hayley. Jon closed the doors firmly before climbing in beside Patrick.  
It was already midday and both Jon and Patrick knew that Jordan would probably moan at them for being so late. As they pulled out of the factory and on to the road, they could feel that it was going to be a long day.


	5. Toys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Nicotine - Panic! At The Disco**   
>  **Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We're Famous - Cobra Starship**   
>  **Practice Makes Perfect - Cute Is What We Aim For**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

When the group finally arrived back at the Equipment base, Jordan had already started to pack the weaponry from last's job in to it's appropriate areas. While Patrick went to help him, and keep an ear out for the other members of the team to show, Jon had taken the rest of the team through to the their testing area.  
The testing area was something they'd designed from the basement of their building. A large under ground area with several tracks, mobility tasks, bullet-testing areas and a couple shooting ranges. Numerous mannequins lined the walls with various pieces of body armour hanging off them and bullet holes covering their surface.

Jon gave Hayley her new vest first, sending the rest to sit in the gallery area. Hayley's vest was a specially designed piece of equipment built with plates that could withstand bullets and blades while still allowing her to be mobile enough that she could move about as she pleased. The vest had been designed to work like an exoskeleton, with the back plating looking and acting like the vertebra of the spine only smoother, and every other plate cut and curved to allow Hayley to bend in any direction. It was made from a rugged yet light fabric that prevented her from getting overheated and kept together with elastic strips so there weren't any buckles or Velcro to hinder movement. The only area that fastened with industrial press-studs and made from a slightly stretcher fabric was where it connected beneath her crotch to stop it from being pulled off or shifting.

Hayley slipped the garment over her head, fastening her hair in to a high ponytail while Jon fussing over its fitting; making various chalk marks around the shoulders, neck and armpit where it could be brought in slightly.

"Right that feel okay?" he asked pulling the fabric as her sides together, a concentrated frown covering his brow.

"Yep, feels fine," Hayley told him, fastening the vest beneath her. Jon stepped back watching her roll her shoulders and stretch, "should we see how it moves?" she asked, Jon nodded and Hayley walked to the first of the many mobility tracks. The first one was a straight eighty meters with a slightly padded floor, sensors and cameras we're placed in the walls to register the sensors that were attached to various areas of the vest while it was still in Alpha and Beta testing, it worked a lot like motion capture and allowed Jon to get a full 360degree view of the equipment's movements. Jon moved to join the others in the gallery, loading up the various screens and sensors ready to track Hayley.

"Ready when you are," Jon said through the microphone, his voice echoing through the speakers. Hayley gave him a thumbs up, turning her back to the track,

"First test, mobility, bend focus," she called clearly so it would register through the small microphones littered about the testing area. With a deep breath she leant forward slight and threw herself in to a back bend, her hands connecting with the padded floor allowing her to spring over... once... twice... three... four times, down the track before finishing with a cartwheel just over half way down the track. She took a couple steps back and did the same, this time springing in to a handstand and allowing her feet to drop as though she was going in to a crab before standing back up straight and repeating until she was back at the start of the track.

She peered toward the gallery noticing Ryan's proud grin through the shaded glass and throwing Jon a thumbs up. He nodded, spinning quickly as the gallery door opened and the rest of the team walked in. He greeted them all hastily before returning to the testing,

"Alright bend focus seems good, how about fighting mobility?" Jon said through the mic Hayley moved toward the fighting area, as Meg was sent out of the gallery, "you versus Meg first then I might send a couple of the others in," Hayley rolled her eyes, getting in to the position as Meg walked in, dropping her jacket by the door and pulling her own vest (similar to that of Hayley's) over her head; stretching out her shoulders, "ready when you guys are," Jon's voice rang through the training area.

"Ready little sister?" Hayley teased, a smirk tugging at her lips as it always did when she was getting ready to fight.

"You know it, old women," Meg grinned back, positioning herself similar to Hayley.

"Second test, fighting mobility," Hayley called clearly, Meg lunging toward her no sooner had the words left her mouth. Hayley dodged to the side, countering her sister and leaping on her back, forcing her to the floor. No sooner had Hayley managed to grab Meg's arms, pinning them to her back, did she feel a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist. Hayley acted on instinct pushing off her feet, over Ryan's shoulder and landing in a ball behind him causing him to stumble and trip. Meg had used that small break from Ryan to spin around on to her knees, straddling Hayley's waist and pinning her arms as she rolled from beneath Ryan's legs, Hayley used the small movement she had to kick her legs up and forcing Meg to give her enough room to get her knee under her and use Meg's weight to push her up over her head.

The fighting went on until Hayley was finally pinned beneath Jack after trying to fight off Ryan, Meg, Griffon and Tina at once. All of them were breathing heavy and sweating as they stumbled out of the training area. Jon had handed each of the team their own body armour as they'd gone in to take on Hayley, it was an effective way of testing multiple people's equipment at once and meant that it didn't take as long.

"Hey sorry about that kick to your junk Jack, the jewels alright?" Hayley apologised, grabbing a bottle of water from one of the four fridges that the Equipment team always kept stocked.

Jack shook his head, taking a large gulp of water and almost choking, "They'll be fine, you only caught the edge, good on you for playing dirty though," he dismissed, patting her shoulder. Hayley grinned at him turning to Jon as he walked toward them carrying various sheets of paper.

"Right, Hayley, Meg, your plating is fine I just need to tighten up some of the fabric," the sisters nodded, pulling the vests over their heads and placing them back on the named stands. "Tina we need to de-bulk your's slightly it's hanging too low and Jack I think we could do with giving you a bit more room to breath," Jon continued, prodding at the straining fabric around Jack's waist, "Grif yours seems fine we'll just do a couple more tests with it, maybe loosen up the shoulders," Griffon nodded, momentarily unfastening the strap beneath her crotch while Jon scurried back toward the rest of the team who were getting suited up and ready to test out.

Hayley stiffened slightly as she felt someone press behind her, "I'm never gonna get tired of seeing you fight," Ryan murmured wrapping his arms around her; his mouth to her ear. She smiled, turning her head to kiss him lightly on the lips,

"And I'm never gonna tired of kicking your butt every time," she laughed, turning around fully and placing her hands on his hips, "how is that cute butt after hitting the floor?" she teased, Ryan rolled his eyes smacking Hayley backside lightly.

"Sore since you made me trip, but don't worry I'll get you back when we get home," he winked. Hayley laughed her hands tightening on his hips when Jordan came through to the training area and walked towards them, forcing them to separate out, Ryan's arm staying around her waist.

"Are you guys finished training?" he asked, Hayley nodded,

"Well me, Ryan, Meg, Tina and Jack are I think," she told him.

"Alright, it's just that Felix said you guys had agreed on a two weapon each deal, so your welcome to come pick what you want before we alter any of it," Jordan said, Hayley calling over to the others who quickly ran upstairs. Hayley stuck her tongue out to Lindsay as they past by, her, Michael and Gavin, the three of them looking extremely downcast at not getting first pick of the explosives.

 

Back at the base that evening everyone was in good spirits over their new toys as they set them up in the weapons vault. Picking just two had been difficult since Felix's shipment had turned the entirety of Jordan, Patrick and Jon's workspaces in to a sweet shop of untouched rocket launchers, new guns, explosives of all shapes and sizes, and ton of extras.

Michael, Lindsay and Gavin had gone for a new box of explosives, each of them grabbing a different sort since they mainly shared anyway. While Gavin had picked a high powered pistol and Lindsay had gone with a rocket launcher, Michael had made a grab for the crate of mini-guns along with Hayley and Ryan (the couple using their other weapon option to grab a few rolls of ammunition each, to go with their new toys). Griffon and Geoff had matched Meg and Jack, grabbing different rifles and pistols while Ray and Tina both chose a pair of new sniper rifles each.

Caiti had remained quiet for most of the day. She'd had her worries about moving so close to Jack's business, since she'd never participated in it and never asked about it, but seeing how different they all were in combat and once they got weapons in their hands she felt a lot safer.  
Each of the team fought to survive not going easy on anyone, even it was just training and testing, but you could tell that they all still loved each other once they stepped out of the rooms laughing and joking with each other. Even watching them handle weapons, everything just scream PROFESSIONALS, they knew what each of their chosen machines could do and yet they still cooed over them like they were babies that were just moments away from shattering or disintegrating between their fingers if they were too rough.  
It sure had changed her perspective of them from the purely domestic couples she was used to seeing around their little neighbourhood. In down time, they weren't a team or the most wanted crew with deadly connections around the world, they were just a large group of friends hanging out, drinking, laughing, and making memories to combat the nightmares and scars that their lives left on them.


	6. Information

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Its About Killing People - Tigers Jaw**   
>  **Arms Across America - Tigers Jaw**   
>  **Easy Target - Blink182**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

It was almost three weeks later that the team got some news that they were all excited about. Burnie had sent a call through the base, knowing that everyone was in and scattered about, calling them to one of the conference rooms on the third floor. Slowly everyone appeared, some in various states of undress since they were busy training and testing some new tec and equipment, sitting around the table with Burnie stood in front of the large board that still had various job lists stuck to it with magnets.

"Sorry to call you all in guys, I know your busy, but I've just got word off Blondie that she needs to see you all," he said his face serious as everyone looked blankly at him. They'd all spoken to Blondie on separate occasions but they'd never met the woman who had become the information centre of Los Santos since their escape.

"What's it concerning?" Griffon asked, even after their time away from Los Santos she was unsure about sending any of her girls back there with them all still wanted by the cops.

"Don't worry Grif, we're sending you all together," Burnie told them still skipping around the subject.

"Of course you're sending us all," Geoff spoke up, "but what's it actually concerning, why does she want to meet us now?"

"Because she's gained information on Josephine that might be of strong interest to you," Burnie told them. The entire group fell silent, the women's thoughts sparking in to life again as they all re-envisioned the numerous ways they'd thought of 'getting even' with the traitor.

"So when do we leave?" Hayley asked, grinning at the concept of finally killing the bitch that had put her family in danger and effectively exiled them from their home.

"I can have the plane ready by tomorrow morning," Burnie told them.

The team looked around at each other, exchanging small nods, "We'll be ready," Griffon smiled. Burnie nodded, dismissing them all and going to prepare the small team that would be responsible for getting them from A-to-B. Given the team's high status in Los Santos, transport preparations could get tough (especially since there were eleven of them) and it was down to Burnie and Ashley's Los Santos connections to keep them safe while in the city, knowing that if any of them got caught, killed, or injured it was on their heads and the team's weren't exactly the most forgiving when it came to fuck ups.

 

The next day all eleven team members we're packed in to one of the many jets owned by Ash & Burn's empire, and though it was larger than the ones they normally used for flights between San Andreas and Los Santos, the air tight container was still pretty crowded with everyone trying to get comfy in the small space.  
Constant arguments of it being too warm or too cold, Geoff and Gavin getting to arguments with Griffon and Meg about it never being too early for whisky (despite them leaving at five AM and only being in the air for half an hour), Tina and Ray trying to find the quietest corner and still finding it too loud while they tried to play on their DS' (in competition with Michael and Lindsay who had barricaded themselves at the other end of the plane), Ryan fighting to keep any form of alcohol away from Hayley's hands and failing as she downed another glass of whiskey that Gavin had been trying to keep out of Meg's reach. And all the while Jack sat like a parent who had given up on his children and had just decided to watch and wait for everyone to calm down.  
It happened eventually of course, around three hours in, most of the crew were silent and/or asleep. Tina and Ray had been the first to go, closing their consoles and curling together in their hole with Lindsay and Michael close behind now that their competition had fallen, while Hayley had claimed her seat and Ryan's by sitting across the man's lap and leaning on his chest with her legs stretched out completely. Geoff and Gavin had both been calmed down eventually, Gavin turning to Meg and going over some client meet-ups they'd been yet to plan while Geoff had fallen asleep on Griffon's lap while she ran over some equipment numbers. Jack also managed to get a couple hours in before the plane began it's decent in to Los Santos and everyone had to start getting ready.

Disguises had slowly diminished in use over the years that the crew had been running jobs between cities, but that didn't mean that they weren't still careful. All the women usually wore wigs or altered their hair enough that it wouldn't be noticed, along with either hats or glasses. Although sometimes they didn't even bother with those and just kept them hidden behind any of the guys, featuring the women like arm candy rather than the main attraction. The guys of course still had to be careful, despite their faces not being known there was always someone who had stared at their grainy CCTV pictures enough to figure out who was who.

Of course disguises weren't really necessary when Burnie and Ashley had their contacts pick them up straight from the airport, just feet from the plane's steps, and take them to their location. It became a lot more difficult however when all eleven of the them travelled, and usually resulted in two or three cars being used since the average could only take four of them with one of Ashley's guys from Funhaus as the driver.

As the crew's air plane taxied down the runway they peered out at the three black cars waiting for them, the three drivers stood chatting against the middle car but quickly getting in to character as the plane's door opened in to a stair well and the first few of the team appeared in the doorway.

Each of the team had already been assigned a car and driver. Geoff, Jack and Griffon, would be going in the front car with Bruce... Ryan, Gavin, Hayley and Meg would be in the second car with Lawrence... and Michael, Ray, Lindsay and Tina to go in the last car with Kovic. It was a bit of a squeeze but soon everyone was in their cars and taking different routes to Blondie's headquarters in the centre of the Los Santos, toward Rockford Hills.

Blondie's office space was a large, curved office building made from white stone and glass. It looked like every other office building in the city, with door men in smart suits situated at the double front door that led in to a open reception of high ceilings, marble floors and glass elevators. A women with fiery auburn hair sat behind three computer monitors her eyes glued to the screen but snapping up as soon as the crew entered, filtering slowly through the wide double doors. She stood smiling broadly at them as they marvelled at the expensive interior of the office building, feeling ridiculously under-dressed in their usual attire of jeans and t-shirt.

"You must be the infamous Red Snakes and Fake AH Crew," the woman said, offering her hand to Griffon and Geoff in turn as they stood at the front of the pack, "my name is Scarlett, and if you'll follow me, Miss Dunkelman is expecting you," she told them, giving them a professional smile before turning on her heel and heading for the three glass elevators at the back of the room, before realising that they weren't about to all fit in one.

"Yvonne!" Scarlett yelled across the hall to another woman who was busily putting sheets from a photocopier in to a thick black binder, glancing toward the elevators every-so-often as they whirred closer to the ground, "are you going up to see the boss in a second?" she asked, Yvonne nodded. She was the personal secretary to Barbara Dunkelman, the queen of information that could bring Los Santos to its knees in one fell swoop with the amount of information she had.

"Yeah I have to take these up to her, want me to take half of that lot with me?" she asked, placing the final few pieces of paper neatly in to the folder.

"If you wouldn't mind, we'll meet you up there," Scarlett nodded as the first elevator pinged to a stop and the doors slid open. The group quickly split between the two elevators, cramming inside the small space and zooming up through the floors of people madly working away processing the various information that filtered through the hub every second.

Blondie's office was on the top floor. A wide hallway took up around a third of the room, with a large door pressed in to one stone wall directly in front of them as the elevators opened. Two security guards stood outside the door, although fairly short in their height they both seemed well trained with their tight shirts showing of the toned muscle of their chests as they stood with their hands behind their backs. The two silently pushed open the double doors, nodding to Scarlett and Yvonne as they passed through in front of the team.  
This door opened in to a smaller office, with two desks (a young man with dark, floppy hair sat behind one) and two entire walls of filing cabinets (one small door on either side of the room gave the impression that this floor held more information than any of the crew could possible imagine). Another set of double doors, guarded by yet another pair of guards, were closed in front of the them; bright light filtering through the frosted glass that was inlayed in to the dark wood.

"She ready for them?" Scarlett asked the young man, who was clicking it way through multitudes of files, organising them. He looked at her, his eyes glancing briefly over the expanse of crew members in the now too small space.

"You're kidding right, she's been watching them since they got off the plane," he laughed, turning back to his computer and waving his hand toward the double doors, both guards moved to open them.

The doors swung open almost silently to reveal a landscape window that looked out of the city and hills beyond. In front of the window sat a magnificent white desk, it's corners and legs ornately caved in to intricate designs. On one wall sat a large TV screen with a long board table in front of it and several comfy looking chairs, while the other wall held several large screens (much like the surveillance system Fake AH's base had had in place for watching the tunnels) with each screen showing various locations around Los Santos, as well as different areas of the offices which constantly switched.  
A tall blonde woman stood watching the screens, her hands in the back pockets of her dark blue jeans. She turned to look as the doors opened, smiling as the crew took in the expensive office décor.

"Plan G, it's so great to meet you and your crews at last," she smiled making her way toward Griffon and Geoff and shaking their hands, before gesturing to the long board table on the left side of the room, "should we get started?" the crew nodded following her to the table, and taking their seats splitting in to their previously separate crews on instinct while Blondie, took the front of the table.

Introductions weren't necessary for this type of meeting since Blondie knew them all anyway, as well as everything about them. The only introduction that was made was by Blondie herself.

"My name is Barbara Dunkelman, but of course you and the industry all know me as Blondie. As you know I took over the Los Santos empire upon your escape and have since agreed to work along side yourselves, and the crews connected with Ash and Burns in order to provide you safe passage throughout Los Santos. I also agreed however to help you with your man hunt of a specific traitor that I know you would like to get your hands on," Barbara told them, grinning as the team's hands tightened in to fists at the mention of the snitch.

"So you've found her?" Griffon asked, her voice was steady but her eyes radiated the fiery anger that burned inside of her.

"We never lost her Grif, but I have managed to get a couple of my boys in to the department responsible for her protection and movement, they've been watching her for a couple months now as she moved from safe house to safe house throughout Los Santos," Barbara explained, "however I've now managed to get her overseas, with just my muscle as her protection..."

"Wait a second, how have you get her to be moved overseas?" Gavin asked, the usual confused look covering his face.

"I have my ways Gav, but the only part you should be interested in, is where I've managed to ship her to," Barbara smiled, pausing.

"You've managed to get her in to San Andreas!" Tina exclaimed. Barbara nodded, clapping her hands twice and causing the lights to flicker off and shutters to slowly cover the windows as she flicked the TV behind her on. A detailed overhead map of San Andreas appeared on the screen with several crosses marking out small areas. The teams quickly recognised the areas as their main homes, the base and the safe houses that they'd created around San Andreas so they had somewhere to lose the cops without leading them to everyone else. The only mark that no one recognised the location of was a pink circle marking out a building toward the main San Andreas airport.

"Now I understand that this is a bit far out from you all but it's the only Los Santos owned, safe house base in San Andreas." Barbara apologized, clicking in the small remote that she'd picked up and changing the image, "unfortunately it's also pretty close to the police station, so you can't really all go causing a fuss there," another click and a short route running from the safe house to the San Andreas police department moved across the screen.

"So what, we wait for her to go out and grab her then?" Hayley asked. Barbara shook her head, clicking the remote and bringing up two pictures of her own muscle that the crew recognised at the two guards that we're stood outside Barbara's office door.

"This is Dan Gruchy and Blain Gibson, they're two of my most trusted guards and are the men responsible for Josephine's _protection_ while in San Andreas, I have arranged with them to move the subject from her safe house to the abandoned airstrip that you guys first landed on so it'll be like a little history trip for you," Barbara smiled around at the group as they nod along slowly. Murderous smirks growing quickly on their faces as their minds race.

"So when do I get to come of my murder break?" Ryan asks. The 'Murder Break' was a rule that both crews had agreed on enforcing to both Ryan and Hayley at different times. They promised that it was more for their own sanity but really it just made the pair better fights and increased their image as Reapers, usually whoever was on a Murder Break would simply incapacitate their opponent while the other let loose with the killing and honestly, Ryan and Hayley did enjoy it a little more than they should.

"I can get her moved in two days and arrange for the guys to move her by the end of the week," Barbara explain, blocking out the idea that certain members of the team needed the enforced murder breaks as a required precaution. The crew nodded smiling at one another.

This was it, this is what everyone had been waiting for since their capture and eventual escape. Restarting everything and getting set up had all been well and good but it was time for them to get even, even if that meant killing someone who had spent the last four years wrack with paranoia.


	7. Revenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Crossroads (I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Serious) - Forever The Sickest Kids**   
>  **Nothings Fair In Love And War - Three Days Grace**   
>  **Gunfight - Sick Puppies**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

The plane journey back home was spent reorganising schedules. The soon arrival of Josephine meant that they needed everyone ready the moment they got the call and unfortunately that meant cancelling and reorganising a few jobs that had been lined up for that week.

As much as the entire crew trusted Barbara, and the capabilities of her team, they still felt the need to have their own surveillance going on during the traitor's short stay. Luckily, they too had a safe house close to the airport which they could run everything from, but there were always limitations of course. They couldn't bug the phone lines or get cameras and mics inside the building so they'd have to work with simple cameras filming the front porch and through every other window.  
From what Barbara had told them, they didn't have to worry about her going out in the first week (since she seemed to stay put after being moved) and that even if she did go out either Dan or Blaine would be with her.

A system was set up so she was under constant watch from at least two of the team at any one time, starting with Tina and Ray so they could make sure everything ran smoothly from the first day, and switching every four hours until the day that she was handed over.

It was fair to say that everyone in the team, particularly the Red Snakes, were excited about finally getting their revenge. Hayley spent a lot of her time day dreaming, her mind running back to the courtroom where she'd wanted to strangle Josephine with the chain of her handcuffs and then beat her head in to a pulp against the bench using the Judge's mallet. Whenever she spoke about it to Ryan he would always whine and say how he missed killing and couldn't wait to be back at it. He also hated hearing about the forced time they'd spent apart but agreed that there was nothing hotter than her yelling foreign profanities at idiots, and that he would have given anything to see the look on Josephine's face when she snapped through the chains that had kept her in the box.

The first two days after getting back home dragged, but Blondie was sure to keep them up to date, giving the team precise times that Josephine would be leaving Los Santos and landing in San Andreas. But once she had landed and packed safely inside her little safe house time seemed to blast by. They kept as constant an eye as they could on the house (given that she kept all the curtains closed) and made sure to keep checking in every so often with either Dan or Blaine. In her first three days there Josephine left the house, leaving with Dan who informed them later that they just gone for a walk to the local shops and back. But soon the final day approached and everyone was ready to wreck havoc that evening.

The entire team spent most of the day preparing. They'd started by emptying their safe house of equipment, moving it back to the main base while others continued to train and clean weapons. As easy as it would be to just put a bullet through her temple and be done, none of the team wanted this to be easy. They wanted a fight. They wanted her to struggle, and beg, and plead with them in the hope that she'd be spared; there was no chance of that but in some of the team's eyes she needed to suffer and experience the pain that she'd caused to her old family.

"So what's your plan for tonight then?" Ryan asked Hayley as they stood beside each other, Ryan cleaning out and loading his pistols while Hayley made sure her blades were sharpened to their usual paper thin point.

"I want to fight her, hand-to-hand," Hayley grinned, twisting her blade in the light, "if nothing else I want to make sure she has the same marks that everyone of us left that prison with," Ryan glanced at her, his eyes catching the faint scar that brushed the top of her cheek bone as he reached up and traced it with his thumb. Hayley smiled, tilting her head in to his touch and placing a hand over his own, kissing his palm lightly, "we're gonna get even with her Ryan, and then she won't be a threat anymore, we can focus on us," she told him. Ryan nodded and with a sigh pulled him toward her, planting a soft kiss on her cheek before tilting her face up to his own.

They were still kissing when Ray walked in to the room, clearing his throat and causing them to jump apart, they're cheeks flushing bright pink as they fumbled with their weapons. Ray grinned at their surprise, even after years and them getting married they still freaked out about getting caught by anyone.

"Geoff just got the word of Blaine that they're in transit, he said he'll radio in when they're a couple miles off the air strip," he informed them, Hayley nodded, Ryan clearing his throat before thanking the younger man squeakily. The couple grinned at each other once Ray had left, finishing off their weapons before vanishing to their separate bases to get ready and armoured up.

 

"How are we even gonna do this?" Meg asked over the radio from one of the two vans that were slowly making their way from the city to the desert airstrip, "I mean we can't just have all eleven of us jumping on her, it ain't fair,"

"Narr we'll take it in pairs, I just wanna get my bruises on her," Hayley laughed through the static of the radio. She was in the other van with Ryan, Jack, Griffon, Michael and Lindsay while Meg was sat between Gavin and Geoff as he drove behind the first van, Ray and Tina in the back.

"I'm just gonna be sure to repay every scar she's caused," Tina added, her head popping between Meg and Gavin's from the back of the van.

"Hey sit down while were fucking driving will you!" Geoff called, sounds like a dad sick of driving on a road trip with a trunk full of kids. Tina pouted at him but disappeared back between the seats, plopping down beside Ray as they bounced along the sanding roads.

"What are we doing with her after we're done?" Gavin asked. Griffon answered him quickly from the other van,

"Same thing we always did, burn what we can, remove the teeth, throw the rest in the ocean for the fish," Gavin fought back a gag, turning his head to the open passenger side window as Meg squeezed his thigh lightly.

"It definitely ain't pretty, but it works," she muttered, small noises of agreement filtering through the static of the radio and from Tina in the back of the van. Gavin shook his head, fighting back another gag.

"Hey Meg, if he pukes you're cleaning out this van," Geoff told the women who stuck her tongue out at him as they rolled on to the air strip.

The burnt and rusted wrecks of their first helicopters still sat on the runway, although it seemed that someone had shoved them further in to the dirt in order to access the runway which still held slightly fresh tracks of jet tires, mixed with multiple car's tire marks. Other than that the entire lot was empty, as everyone piled out of the vans, looking around in confusion. _Where was Blaine and Dan's car?_ they split up in to small groups, readying themselves for the worst as they scanned the abandoned airstrip and small plane shed.

"Erm, guys," came Michael's voice from behind the wreckage of their old vehicles.

Everyone followed, gasping at the sight before them while Gavin gagged slightly.

Attached by a noose around his neck to the wreckage of what seemed to be the Savage was Blaine's body, swaying slowly in the soft warm breeze with a fresh bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. Blood still dripped slowly from the gun shot but it seemed that the majority was either on the floor or soaked in to the smart suit that he wore. A blood spattered note was pinned to his jacket pocket.

 ** _CHANGE OF PLAN BITCHES. FOLLOW THE TRACK WEST FROM HERE UNTIL YOU GET TO THE WAREHOUSES._**  
**_I'LL BE IN THE BIGGEST ONE. NUMBER FOUR. DON'T KEEP ME WAITING. I'M READY FOR YOU. xPOTx_**

"She wants a final stand off," Hayley said, reading over the scrawled handwriting.

"Then she can have it, come on," Griffon said, turning on her heel and jogging back toward the vans with the rest of the team in tow. They split quickly, following the dirt track until it hit the main road again and led them over the bridge.

In the distance they could make out the blurred outlines of the warehouses against the inky night sky. If it was a stand off Josephine wanted, the she was certainly going to get it. The teams got in to character as they pulled up outside the largest warehouse, which was silent except for the breeze that whistled eerily between the metal sheets.

Since it was couples that had started this whole mess, everyone of the couples teams had gone all out, wearing almost identical outfits and masks. Geoff and Griffon were dressed in smart black pant suits with white shirts, with matching royal half masks, Ryan and Hayley of course had their skull masks but had took it one step further which matching jackets (although Hayley's was a slimmer fit so she could mover better). Lindsay and Michael wore matching brown leather jackets, the head of a roaring bear stitched in to the back with their code names, while Gavin and Meg wore matching cat masks. Ray and Tina had chosen this opportunity to show off their matching, bright pink sniper riffles and simple white masks. Meanwhile Jack, content with being the odd one out, simply wore his usual attire except with a large bull mask covering his face (which Ryan had lovingly named Edgar).

"Everyone ready?" Geoff asked as every clicked their microphones around their necks and connected the ear pieces, everyone nodded; mumbled ' _ready_ 's slipping from under masks and hitting the tense air. "Then lets get this fucker," and with that the crew made their way toward the front door of the warehouse, completely unaware of what was waiting for them on the other side.


	8. Pistols At Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Pistols At Dawn - Seinabo Sey**   
>  **You're Going Down - Sick Puppies**   
>  **When Your Heart Stops Beating - +44**   
>  **Everybody Wants To Rule The World - Lorde**   
>  **Safe And Sound - Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH IN THIS SECTION**

On Geoff's mark everyone snuck through the vast warehouse doors. The front area was similar to that of their first joint job, a sparse concrete floor surrounded by blank metal walls, with a single set of steps leading up to a low landing which Brownman and Tiny quickly took to. They didn't know what Josephine had planned and they needed every advantage they could get.  
The rest of the team continued forward toward the loading docks at the back of the warehouse. There Josephine stood in the centre of a truck bed, Dan stood stiffly beside her and a pistol clutched tightly in her hand as the pair watched the team edge in, they eyes locked on the pair as they spaced themselves along the concrete. Tiny and Brownman had managed to work around the landing behind them, having split at the half way point of the walkway and were now perched silently above everyone.

"Well isn't this cute," Josephine sang bitterly glaring at the line of couple before her. She turned her attention to Grif, "Seems all the rules went down the drain once I left,".

"No rules went down the drain Josephine, we just learnt that it's easier not to fight within families," Grif told her, her hand tightening and loosening on one of her pistols. She could feel the rest of the team growing more anxious around her as she spared glances at their hands, Psycho's hands were balled tightly at his sides, while both América's and Em's twitched toward their throwing knives, Vav's hands shook slightly with the building adrenaline and Tuggs already had a hand on one of the grenades that were strapped to Michael's back.

"Ha, easier not to fight, bullshit!" Josephine barked at them, her clutch on the gun growing tighter as she brought her other arm up to point along the line, "you all just enjoyed the idea of having someone to fuck! Either that or you've all become domestics, which I'm going to guess hasn't happened since you're here heavily outweighing me in equipment," as she spoke, others began to emerge from various doors and holes around the loading dock, even the windows in the ceiling opened up to reveal two snipers with their barrels trained on Brownman and Tiny, who span quickly and returned the pointed barrels with their fingers hovering over the trigger. Josephine chuckled at her former team's surprise,

"You didn't think I'd come alone did you," she sneered as each crew member pointed a gun at an opponent, "put it this way, your little blonde friend needs to find some better employees," she stroked a scared hand across Dan's back and down the length of his arm, a sickly grin on her face.

"So what, you had a mole," América scoffed, turning to point her gun at Josephine who held up her own unsteadily, "you honestly think we can't take you?" Josephine grinned, showing off her browning teeth.

"Oh I don't doubt that you could take me and my group, considering you're wearing a fuck ton of armour," her eyes scanned across the group, each one of them were were the suits that had been custom fitted by Jon and his team. Fair enough it gave them a shit ton of protection from bullets in gun fights but other than that, it was mainly just a comfort and was rarely put to the test while on jobs since no enemy ever got close enough. Josephine tilted her head slightly, her eyes filling with a manic urge to test, "How about we even the playing field? You remove guys remove your armour, and we had a good old fashioned fight," she tested, watching as the teams eyes tightened behind their masks.

"I'm up for playing her game," Hayley whispered in to her mic.

"Me too, but how do we trust that she'll call everyone off until we're done?" Lindsay whispered back, her gaze flicking between the rest of her team.

"We do it one couple at a time, but y'all better bring your A-game," Griffon told them before turning her attention by the psychotic snitch who was twitching nervously in front of them, "Alright Josephine, we'll play along, call your people off," Josephine nodded waving her hand and whistling. The sound of safety catches being replaced echoed through the room as everyone on Josephine's side lowered their weapons. The rest of the crew kept their eyes and guns trained as Jack took off his vest quickly, throwing it behind him. Michael and Lindsay were next, then Geoff and Griffon, Ryan and Hayley, Meg and Gavin, Ray and Tina never usually wore armour since they stayed away from the front line but both removed their purple hoodies' to show that they weren't hiding anything.

"There you happy now?" Boss spat as Tiny and Brownman's hoodies' fluttered to the floor, Josephine nodded eagerly, her gun still lowered as she took in the new vulnerability of her former team mates, Boss smirked, "good to hear... QUADRIGIS PROLEIO!" (... _TEAM BATTLE_ ) no sooner had the words left the leaders mouth the first two shots sounded from above and the two snipers that had been poking through the roof at Brownman and Tiny fell to floor, narrowly avoiding the two that were stood either side of Josephine and Dan's truck bed. Everyone sprung in to action then, Dan pulling Josephine off the truck bed and hiding her behind it while the rest of her back up were slowly taken out by the crew.

Due to the lack of armour all members of the fire fight were forced to use the sparse protection of boxes and walls to avoid bullets as they ricochet around the room, pinging off the metal walls and chipping away at the concrete floor. Eventually the last bullet rang out and everyone breathed, the bodies of the eight men and women Josephine had hired to kill her old team now lay in puddles of their own blood with several bullet holes shredding their clothing. Dan had been the last to fall, after trying to climb back on top of the truck bed and getting three bullets through his chest, he to now lay face down as his own blood began to soak the wooden bed beneath him.  
Josephine had come back up then, crawling on the bed beside Dan as tears fell silently down her face. The team watched as she pushed him on to his back and wiped her shaking hands over his bloodied chest.

"NO!" she cried out, her voice thick as she pushed herself on to her knees, "THIS WASN'T HOW IT WAS MEANT TO HAPPEN!" she was sobbing now. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she screamed at the crew, they stood watching her in silence as her head drooped again and she fought to gain control of her breathing. "This isn't how it was meant to go," she whispered to herself angrily.

Pain and anger filled her eyes now as she stared up at the team in front of her, she scanned over them as they stood side by side in their couples. Her gaze finished on Meg and Gavin who had now removed their masks along with everyone else. She was still clutching the unfired gun in her hand as she watched them causing everyone to still be on edge as she began muttering just loud enough for the others to hear.

"When we first did that joint job I thought everything was going to be great, everyone hit it off, everyone understood, but you just weren't interested," she began to stand shakily, pushing herself up on her knee and keeping her head down as she continued, "no matter what I did you didn't care, and then no sooner does the floosey **slut** known as Hayley's sister show up do you jump at the chance!" she was yelling again now, her vengeful gaze locked on Meg and Gavin while the rest of the crew began to tighten, reloading their weapons quickly.

"Well guess what you slut," she hissed, "he was meant to be mine, and if I can't have him then neither can you."

The next few seconds sent time grinding in to slow motion as Josephine raised her gun and fired several bullets toward Meg. At the same time shots fired from Griffon and Lindsay, who had been the first to reload, one bullet catching Josephine in the shoulder while the other hit her leg. In the same instance Hayley pushed her sister and Gavin out of the way, three of the five shots hitting her in her unprotected chest and sending her plummeting to the ground and sending the team in to a frenzy which caused the world to speed up again.

Ryan yelled out as Hayley lunged toward Meg and Gavin, taking the bullets that Josephine had fired and landing in a crumpled heap on the floor chocking on her breath. Josephine took the small commotion and used it to escape, stumbling from the loading dock in to the car that had been left for herself and Dan.

The loading dock erupted in to shouts and screams as they tried to stop Hayley's blood loss. Three of the bullets had hit her across her chest, while one had longed in her shoulder and the other in her waist. Meg pulled her head on to her lap, her body still in shock while Ryan grabbed at her face, tears spilling from his eyes as she gasped for air.  
She could feel everyone moving around her, knowing that there was no way to save her as Ryan gripped at her hand and leant his face close to hers,

"You can't die on me now Hayley, not now, please," he begged. Hayley tried to listen but he sounded to far away, she could feel his tears hitting her cheeks as he sobbed and begged above her. She reached up the hand that Ryan wasn't clutching, placing on his cheek and bring his eyes to hers as she felt herself growing weaker.

"Thank you for making me feel human again Ryan," she whispered, "I love you,".

As Hayley felt the final burning in her chest she let go. From there it was like she was trapped in a bubble watching everything happen like a movie.

Ryan grabbed her face, yelling and crying before collapsing and bringing his forehead to her own as her eyelids fluttered shut.

"Don't leave here alone," he begged, his voice quiet and broken.

The rest of the team stood in shock, Lindsay had turned her back on the scene, sobbing in to Michael's shoulder with his arms wrapped tightly around her. Griffon let herself fall to the floor, her cries silent as she blamed herself for not taking quick enough action, Geoff stood behind her in silence with Jack beside him (both of their eyes glassy). After feeling her sister's final breath Meg's body had recovered enough to allow her to cry, the tears flowing freely in to Gavin's shirt as he knelt beside her, her hand clasped firmly in Ryan's as he refused to move.  
Ray and Tina were last to realise what had happened, instantly going in to auto-pilot as they re-entered the loading dock, this time on the ground floor. They stopped in shock for a couple seconds before moving to collect the other bodies, working together to move them on to the truck bed, where they would eventually be set alight.

 

It felt like hours before everyone moved, Geoff ordered the majority of the team back home, leaving just himself, Griffon and Michael to clean up. Meg had left silently and without question; Gavin leading her out of the building slowly while Ryan had been a different case, resulting in Jack having to drag him up and fight against him as he screamed to stay, dry sobs heavy from his throat.

Griffon made the call to Hayley's mother while Geoff and Michael began lighting the corpses of Josephine's help. She knew it would be early where Hayley's mother lived but that didn't stop her from answering on the third ring.

"Hello?" she answered sleepily.

"I'm sorry to wake Ms. Turney," Griffon croaked, her voice wobbly as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Hayley's mother sat up in her bed, she'd been dreading this call but knew that it could always come one day.

She cleared her throat, "Which one?"

"Hayley Amnisty, lost in action due to sacrificing herself to protect Meg," Griffon choked out, her eyes sliding over to Hayley still form, where it lay on the floor, her hands folded on top of her stomach and head slightly tilted toward where Ryan had been sitting. Hayley's mother took a deep breath as tears filled her eyes.

"I shall arrange her Viking funeral for two days time, I'll meet you tomorrow at the airport," her voice cracked as she began to make the plans in her head, Griffon nodded along, feeling tears sting at her eyes again, "thank you for telling me Griffon, and thank you for keeping her safe all these years, I'm glad she died honourably,".

Griffon sniffed, "She did, she was amazing tonight, I shall meet you tomorrow," with that Griffon hung up, walking toward Geoff and Michael who were stood watching the fire. Geoff wrapped an arm around Griffon's waist as she stood between them; wrapping an arm around Michael's shoulders as he chewed on his lip to prevent himself crying.

They moved Hayley's body in to one of the long boxes that they'd found scattered throughout the warehouse, lining the bottom and sides with brown sack before carefully placing her inside. They'd have to take her to their personal hospital and get someone to call in an embalmer before her mother saw her tomorrow.

 

Everyone always feared that this day would come, unfortunately they'd never expected it to have such an effect.


	9. Coming To Terms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **In My Veins - Andrew Belle**   
>  **Wings - Birdy**   
>  **Tear In My Heart - Twenty One Pilots**   
>  **One Way Or Another - Blondie**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is so short, it was actually really difficult to write.
> 
> (I'm so sorry, anyone who was a fan of Hayley and/or her pairing with Ryan)

After being dragged from the building Ryan had gone in to shock as he sat next to Jack in the front seat of the van, everyone else had piled in the back but the vehicle remained silent for the entire trip. Instead of going to the base Jack had driven them all straight home, parking the van in his garage so it wouldn't be spotted. Since Michael had stayed at the warehouse to help with clean up, Ryan had joined Lindsay on her porch; together the pair had sat in silence with their hands tightly clasped.

It seemed that no one wanted to go inside that night because soon Meg and Gavin had joined them, Meg climbing in to Ryan's lap and burying her head in the crook of his neck while Gavin sat on the floor, his head against Ryan's thigh. It hurt how much Meg smelt like Hayley, so much like home and love and everything that Ryan had held dear. Slow, silent tears were falling down his cheeks when Jack and Caiti joined them, Caiti squeezing in beside Ryan so he was sandwiched in the middle of Lindsay and herself as she wrapped an arm around his broad shoulders. Jack stayed stood, it was clear that he was trying to stay strong for everyone while the team was still split, but the red rings around his eyes showed just how much he was holding back.

It seemed like hours before Geoff and Griffon's red truck rolled in to the street and on to their driveway. Michael jumped out, running toward his house as Lindsay stumbled down the steps, the couple embracing tightly as fresh sobs racked through their bodies. Ryan tried not to look at them, he tried not to look at anyone because they all had each other and now he had no one. They'd have each other to hug and cry with tonight while Ryan would have nothing but an empty bed and a pillow that smelt like her.

Griffon told them about the arrangements she'd already made with Hayley and Meg's mother, her voice thick as she told them that Hayley's body was back at base already being prepared for the funeral. Everyone had nodded stiffly, not trusting their voices enough to break the mournful silence that had wrapped around them like a comforter.

Not long later, Griffon was led back home by Geoff, shortly followed by Gavin who had to carry Meg since she'd fallen asleep on Ryan's lap. Jack and Caiti had gone to leave then, offering Ryan a place to sleep if he needed it before saying night to Lindsay and Michael as they retreated numbly to their own bed.

Ryan had declined the offer. If he didn't face the house now he never would, and so that night he spent in the empty silence of house that no longer felt like home. There was no slow clicking as Hayley attempted to finish something before coming to bed, no shuffling of cereal boxes as she rooted for a midnight snack, no gentle padding of bare feet against the wooden steps, and no one beside Ryan as he sobbed himself in to an uneasy sleep, curled around Hayley's empty pillow.

 

A small haze fogged Ryan's memory early the next morning before the crushing reality hit him. His face was taught from the countless tears he'd cried through the night and his throat was dry and sore. He sat up, pulling the pillow he'd been hugging with him, and turned to face the alarm clock. 5:03am, Ryan groaned, today was going to be a long day but he knew that he had to keep moving on.

Reluctantly he placed the pillow back on the empty side of the bed and pushed himself out of the covers. He felt out of place, like everything was foreign to him. He was in his own house but everything had changed. There was no sounds of water falling from the shower head, no clanks or smells of bacon and coffee wafting from the kitchen, even the birds seemed to be in mourning for their chirping was no existent through the slightly open bedroom window.

He chose to shower quickly, not giving himself enough time to think before he was back in the bedroom pulling on a pair of clean jeans and a t-shirt, his shaggy hair still damp. Hayley had been right when she said that he needed it cutting. The majority of his hair now came down past his chin, and framed his drawn face and tired, red rimmed, eyes. Ryan stepped back from the mirror, inhaling deeply before throwing the towel in to the already full washing basket that Ryan knew he'd put off doing as long as possible.  
Although he knew it impossible Ryan still expected to see Hayley sat in her usual spot at the breakfast bar with a coffee in her hand as he padded down the steps. But like everything else the kitchen was quiet and untouched. ' _Today's going to be a hard one_ ' Ryan thought as he started up the coffee maker, and tried to keep himself busy while he waited.

He rearranged the couch cushions... one... twice, set all the remotes in to a neat line in front of the TV and put the video game controls beside their correct consoles trying not to focus on the fact that there seemed to be two of everything. He wandered over to his desk, not daring to touch Hayley's even now that she was... Ryan shook the thought from his head before he began leafing through a couple files that he'd been assigned to; organising them as well. He busy flipping all the pens and pencils in the pot, so them pointed nib up, when a soft knock echoed from the front door. Ryan opened it without question,

"You couldn't either?" he croaked as Meg shivered in the porch, still dressed in jogging bottoms and one of Gavin's t-shirts; her hair flung in to a low pony tail. She shook her head, stepping around him and walking straight to kitchen. Like her sister, Meg ran on all things caffeine in the mornings (before resorting to water once she was fully awake - it was only thing, she and Hayley had differed on). Ryan followed, closing the front door and watching as Meg jumped in to the seat that usually sat beside Hayley, but even to Meg everything seemed wrong as Ryan poured them both coffees from the now finished pot.

"Did you sleep okay last night?" Meg asked stiffly, stirring her coffee. Ryan shook his head,

"Maybe a couple hours if I was lucky, you?" Meg shook her head in response, taking a swig of her coffee and wincing as it burnt her tongue.

"Not well, I had Gav though which is probably why he's still asleep now,"

"Well that and the fact that it's not even six yet," Ryan attempted to joke, but it felt wrong and the small smile that had kept to his lips quickly fell. Meg felt the quick change in mood and attempted to give him a reassuring smile, reaching across the bar to squeeze his hand. Ryan squeezed back.

Today was going to be hard for both of them. Meg's mom was meant to be arriving at the airport around noon which was when most of the team would be working and meant that only Griffon would be able to meet her. There would probably be a lot of arguments about that this morning, but Ryan didn't want to think about it right now, he wanted to see his wife. Absent-mindedly he twisted his wedding ring around his finger, pulling it to his lips and kissing the warm metal lightly. Meg watched quietly as he did, fiddling with the handle of her coffee cup.  
She could feel the lose, not just from her own heart or Ryan but from the house. It was like the entire house had lost it's warmth, its heart, the very thing that had made the lump of bricks, mortar and clap-board in to a home that lived and breathed the love and affection that was poured out within it. Now it was hollow and lifeless. There wouldn't be anymore of Hayley's childish laugh through the hallways as chased Meg on a Saturday afternoon, or lazy hums as she lent back against Ryan on the couch to watch a movie. Hell there wouldn't even be fresh coffee and pancakes at the crack of dawn or the morning breeze sweeping through the back door as she sat in the dawn sun reading before starting her day.

Meg didn't realise she was crying again until strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her from the chair. She clung to Ryan's shirt, sobbing in to his heaving chest as he cried too, his arm tight around her shoulders as the day aged and the world restarted again.


	10. Goodbyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Firefly - Ed Sheeran**   
>  **Born To Die - Lana Del Rey**   
>  **Day Of The Dead - Hollywood Undead**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

The following two days had been a rush as everyone attempted to keep themselves busy but it was still apparent to everyone within the building that they'd lost someone very important, even the mercenaries that came and went with the wind caught on and wished everyone the best for the future.

Hayley's mother had arrived in San Andreas at noon on the first day as she'd promised and after many fights and arguments it was reluctantly agreed that only Griffon would be going to meet her, keeping all of her girls quiet and focused on anything, small things they could grasp with all their focus. The weapon vault and explosive manufacture floors were kept on lock down, not that anyone wanted to go up to them anyway. 

Lindsay kept herself locked in the garages with Jack, the pair working in silence with their minds straining focus on the delicate engines in front of them, while Tina and Ray kept busy running through pages upon pages of code and checking every camera that they had throughout the world. Meg on the other hand had become obsessed with some of the information Josephine had leaked before everything went wrong, ' _your little blonde friend needs to find some better employees_ '.   
She'd obviously had help of Dan since he'd stood beside her unnerved as she cried bloody murder, but who else had leaked her information? Dan, a trusted but simple security guard, wouldn't have been trusted with the amount of information that Josephine had probably had access to since she'd been able to get a team together ready for the stand off. So who was her mole?

She'd gone to work, ignoring everyone else all morning, she'd even brushed Gavin off when he tried to convince her to have a break. She'd only stopped when her mother showed up, walking almost silently in to the base. Meg had ran to her then, wrapping her arms tightly around her mother, but no more tears could be shed she'd cried everything she could and now her entire being was raw. Auntie Sue and Aunt Clarie had shown up as well, their aged faces grey and empty with dry eyes that matched the red rings of everyone else's.

Ryan had also emerged when he heard that his wife's family had arrived. He'd been in the training rooms, working his body so his brain didn't have anything to focus on but the burning pain of his muscles has he pushed himself. But everything broke again as soon as he saw the three women, Hayley's mother hugging him tightly despite his sweat. He'd exchanged a few small words with her and the Aunts, having learnt more French and Latin since their last encounter. Both women would have been impressed had it not been under the grave circumstance that they were meeting again. There meeting was cut short as Griffon informed them that Hayley's body had been prepared if they wanted to see her.

Hayley's mother let out a shaky breath, "Of course, thank you Griffon," she'd nodded, before turning to Ryan as he hung his head. She placed a soft hand on his cheek, much like Hayley had done when ever she was comforting him and Ryan had fought back tears again as she spoke, "You keep yourself safe and healthy my dear, and don't forget that you will always be welcome at home," Ryan nodded, not trusting his voice as he tried to swallow the tears that were blocking his throat, before hugging the three women again and returning to his training.

 

The second day was stranger than the first. Everyone seemed tougher and more focused as they prepared themselves for the coming evening and the events that would dismiss a daughter, sister, team mate, and wife from this world and in to oblivion.

It was organised that Hayley's funeral would take place in the unowned ocean between Los Santos and San Andreas. Sending Hayley out in a wooden boat that would be set alight so that her soul could be completely released from her body.

Ryan didn't go to see Hayley until the early evening when most people had left and it was just the teams that remained, readying everything for that evening.  
Under the harsh hospital lights Hayley had looked paler than she even had. Lying still beneath the white cloth that was protecting the simple black pant suit she'd been placed in. Her hair had been curled and lay around her in a chocolate brown sea, boardering her pale face that had been treated like a canvas with simple silver eye shadow that deepened in to black at the far corner of her eye and topped thick black lashes as they spanned out over her cheeks. Her lips, that had once been the vessel of both loving and venomous words now stayed closed, their skin painted the same red as the blood she had once drawn from countless victims; the corners unmoving as they no longer stretched to form her signature smirk.

Ryan sat beside her, his elbows resting on his knees with his face in his hands as he thought out loud hoping that by some miracle Hayley could help him, "What am I meant to do now?" he asked, his quiet voice still to loud in the empty room, "I should have saved you, I should have stopped you as soon as I saw her raise the gun to Meg, I should have done something... It should be on that table, not you, you had too much to lose," Ryan shook his head as his vision became blurry again, "we were meant to focus on us, once she was gone, now you're gone and she's still running happy,".

"So get revenge," a stern voice sounded from the doorway. Ryan turned to find Hayley's mother and Meg stood in the doorway, he hadn't even heard them come in, "if you're that angry with yourself about how things turned out, avenge her!" Hayley's mother told him, her face was like stone, her eyes like fire, "Don't you tell me that I let my girl marry a man that's just going to roll over instead of avenging his wife," Ryan stared at her in shock as she released Megs had and walked over to him.

"Do you know what I did when my husband died in action?" she asked. Ryan shook his head, "I bombed the crew of the guy that did it and then gutted the boss with a red hot knife, kept him alive until I'd almost entirely disembowled him, then and only then... when he was begging for death's sweet embrace, did I place a blade through his heart," Ryan stared at her. This was the blood curdling tyrant that Hayley and Meg had told them about, the one that ruled the world with a blooded fist while still being a loving mother and devoted wife, he was still processing this when Geoff and Griffon came in, dressed in black suits and looking tired but ready for war.

"We're ready to leave now," Geoff told them, his voice was commanding and yet croaked with the emotion that had been shed in the past few days. Everyone nodded and stood, Meg and her mother making straight for the door while Ryan gave one final look at his wife. He cupped her hand gently and held back the shudder at how cold it was as he bent forward, placing a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth.

"I love you," he whispered softly, before pulling back and leaving the room. Once outside he climbed in to one of the vans that would take everyone to the docks.

There were a total of two vans to carry everyone while the two members of the medical crew that had prepared Hayley would be driving in front of them carrying Hayley. Behind them would be Geoff and Griffon, with Ryan, Gavin, Meg, Hayley's mother, Auntie Sue and Aunt Clarie in the back, while the second van was driven by Jack with Caiti in the passenger seat and Ray, Tina, Michael, Lindsay, Burnie and Ashley in the back.

The drive to docks was a weird feeling for everyone. It felt they were about to go do a job but no one carried any weapons except for a flare gun each and they were missing one of their best members. Everyone kept feeling themselves run with adrenaline before they remembered what they were actually doing and quickly deflated.

As thought the docks were hushed when everyone arrived, just the silent lapping of waves inside the dock as they moved against the boats. Five boats sat waiting for the team,s again they broke up with each boat carry four people, including a driver. The only boat that wasn't carry four was the boat that the two medics and Hayley would be in. Without a word they sped through the dock toward the unowned waters. The place they'd chosen was close to small island, more like a large cluster of rocks with a short beach but it allowed them to move easier on to land as Hayley was placed inside the wooden boat that would be her release.

Inside she was surrounded with her empty guns and protective vest that had been used in her last stand, two of her knives were placed in her hands and crossed over her chest while the others had been placed in their holders and strapped to the various areas of her legs and waist. Her equipment as well as all the files and cases she'd worked on were also placed inside in the boat, after tonight the only trace of Hayley ' _América_ ' Amnisty would be in the memories of those that had knew her. The last thing Ryan placed over his wife's face was the jewel encrusted skull mask that Felix had sent them as a wedding gift, she never got to wear it on a job.  
A thin black cloak that covered her entirely and turned her in to a basic silhouette was placed over her body then and three candles light at each corner of the boat before it was pushed out on to the calm ocean. Everyone stood watching it, waiting with their flare guns in hand. Once it was out far enough Hayley's mother made the call,

"Ready... Aim... Fire!" she called in to the night, her eyes fixed on the boat as multicoloured flares light up the sky above them before curling down and landing in or around the boat quickly setting the fabric and paper inside of it alight. Everyone stood in silence as they watched it, no one knew what to say. Ryan felt Meg shift beside him as she took his right hand in her own, watching the boat as it burned atop the waves. Hayley's mother did the same, taking his left hand after he'd placed the flare gun in to the holster on his hip.

"I'm going to avenge her," he muttered quietly. Meg's hand tightened around his own but it was her mother that spoke,

"Now that's what I like to hear, best way to a traitor's heart?.. through the fourth and fifth rib," she smirked, Ryan looked down at her. She had the same fire in her eyes that Hayley had held during every job and talk of murder, the same smirk that filled her lips every time she came up with a new plan or learnt a new trick to take down her enemies. This time the similarities between Hayley and her mother didn't fill Ryan's heart with mourning, instead they fuelled his plans to take Josephine out once and for all. Meg must of been having the same ideas because when Ryan turned to look her, she held the same smirk and fire in her eyes, when she turned to look up at him she nodded and single fierce tear slipping down her cheek.

As everyone set back to the boats, Ryan began planning his revenge, he knew Meg had been looking in to Barbara's work force trying to find the leak. But he also knew that Josephine hadn't left San Andreas yet, and wouldn't be any time soon.


	11. Keeping Busy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **The Lock Down Denial - Cute Is What We Aim For**   
>  **Kiss The Grass - The Paper Kites**   
>  **Wherever You Will Go - Charlene Soraia**   
>  **Dread In My Heart - Mother Mother**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

The rest of the week left everyone still at odds with running everything. Clients had to be informed of the unfortunate circumstance and many had sent their condolences to the team. The team had also informed Barbara of her apparent leak and she quickly went to work seeking it out, as well as using the connections she had in San Andreas to make sure no plane left with her or the crew knowing.

Meanwhile Ryan and Meg had joined forces. Not only were they helping Barbara in her attempt to find the mole but they were also working toward Josephine's possible hiding spot. They decided it had to be somewhere she could hide a small team, and no doubt she'd gone back there after being shot at the warehouse, however it also had to be close enough to the safe house she'd been assigned so the police wouldn't realise that her two guards had now gone missing or that she kept nipping in and out when ever she pleased.  
They'd set the camera up around the safe house again, one at each window and with the help of Tina and Ray (who welcomed the extra work load) they kept another 24 hour surveillance on her movements. None of the team could be trusted to track Josephine outside of the base, since they were each as uncontrollable as the last, instead they called in extra help of a few eyes to keep track of her when she wasn't at the safe house. Aleks and Kira (a couple trackers that were new to San Andreas) kept eyes on her during the day, while night watches were held to a guy named O who had worked with the crew before.

Every waking moment was spent sifting through the various information that the trackers brought back to them as well as the odd few pieces that Barbara could spare whenever she found something out of place in her records. It turned out that Josephine had known about her move from Los Santos to San Andreas long before the crew had, and with the help of the 'trustworthy' Dan she'd grown a small team scattered around Los Santos and San Andreas that acted as her personal lackies. While there still wasn't any information on a potential base in San Andreas Barbara had grown closer to pin pointing her leak.

The information that Josephine was being fed all came from the higher floors, however whatever hacking software they'd been using had messed up the signal enough that it was hard to tell which floor.

"We can get through it, it's just going to take a few days," Barbara had told them on a video conference a few days after the funeral.

"We don't have a few days Barb, my wife's murder and team's traitor is out there and has every possibility of leaving at any time!" Ryan had yelled, at the screen, leaning around Meg who had been sat in the chair while Ray and Tina prepared to step forward in case Ryan broke yet another computer.

"I know Ryan and we'll get her, I promise," Barbara had answered, trying to remain calm. While she could sympathise with Ryan and what he was going through she didn't fully understand it. But the large bags under his eyes and the stubble that covered his jaw betrayed his focused demeanour.

Since the funeral Ryan had barely slept. He spent hours pacing, going over every bit of information in his head and when that wasn't good enough he sat at his computer and went over yet more information or logged in to the bases security cameras and watched Josephine in the crappy safe house. There had been nights where he'd had to go to Jack's or Geoff's houses in order to prevent himself driving to the safe house and killing her there and then.  
Meg had been the same, but since Gavin could understand slightly how she was feeling she allowed him to drag her to bed at a decent hour. That didn't stop her rising early and pacing their own home. Sometimes she'd sit outside on the porch, a coffee in her hand just listening and she began to understand why Hayley had done it, there was something weirdly human about letting the cold morning air brush goosebumps across your skin while birds sang and reconnected with each other again. Sometimes Ryan joined her after having another night of too little sleep, sometimes she'd walk to his house knowing he'd be awake and they'd have coffee out of the back door in silence.

It was comforting to have someone there at all times, someone that understood your pain just in a slightly different way.  
Of course everyone was hurting, everyone had lost a valuable team member, and friend. It had become apparent after the funeral as everyone sat around the fire pit that Geoff had light in his back garden. Everyone had reflected on Hayley's life, reciting memories from times past.  
Some were small things like how her face light up when she floored someone in training, or the childish attitude she seemed to radiate while killing. Other memories were those that only family could tell, like how she used to refuse to learn one language only to end up talking it fluently a few weeks later, or how she'd loved riding horses through mountain ranges and streams when they'd spent time close to the Alps. And then there were the memories that only a husband could tell, like how she would hum or sing the same song on repeat while showering or making breakfast, and how she looked in baggy joggers and t-shirt three sizes too big as she frowned at some unknown book, or how her laugh would echo through the halls when something made her laugh on the television.

Everyone missed Hayley, but that was what kept them focused on finding Josephine again. She needed to be punished for what she'd done to the team, not just with Hayley but everyone else as well. She needed to be punished for every time she'd left one of her team mates open, for every scar that they carried because of her, she needed to be punished for when she left the entire team out to dry just because she was jealous and then ratted them all out to save her own skin. Everyone had their own personal vendetta against Josephine and her actions, but at the end of the day it had been agreed that Ryan would be the one with the final blow.

 

It seemed like weeks passed without any new word from Barbara or the trackers, even the security cameras on the safe house had gone quiet. Everyone was growing desperate. Ryan had taking to sleeping on Jack's couch in order to prevent him from taking off to the safe house and killing Josephine in her sleep.

When finally the call from Barbara came, she'd found her leak,

"It was one of my organisers, Caleb he's called," she told them over the conference call, "do you want me to send him to you or keep it internal?" she asked, a smug grin pulling at the corners of her mouth, Ryan had been about to demand his death sentence by his own hands but Griffon raised her voice before he could.

"Probably best to keep it internal, once Josephine realises we've found her mole she's likely to get antsie, we need to be ready for when she makes her move," Barbara nodded. Motioning to someone off screen before returning back to the call.

"So as for information that we found, it turns out that he was feeding Josephine every movement that was planned for her, so she could plan ahead about where she was meeting that traitorous bitch Gruchy. As for the team she set up to try and get even with you guys, it turned out Caleb was using our files to find some throwaways that could help her there, they were nobodies really, junkies, meth heads, no family to speak of so no one to go looking for them..."

"What about buildings, does she have anything over here that she would have been hiding out in?" Meg asked, growing slightly impatient. Ryan smiled tightly her in thanks, he was already getting on the bad sides of his bosses, and another outbreak from him could mean that he was cut from yet another gig.

"Now that took a while to dig out, Caleb was clever everything to do with San Andreas was coded but we did find some rental fees of a small compartment building thing on the docks near your airport, building E1-2," she told them, flicking through the files in her hand, "I'll have Arron send it you later today,"

Now they were getting somewhere. Ryan's mind flew in to overdrive as he lusted over the irony of killing her in her own base of operations. Kidnap her from her safe house, strap her in to a chair or something in her own base and left everyone of the crew settle their own score with the bitch, it would make for an easy clean up, they could just blow the place to bits and be done with her. He didn't realise the impromptu meeting was over until everyone began to move and return to their original jobs.

"So when do we get her?" Ryan asked jogging after Griffon as she walked from the room and toward the elevators.

Griffon sighed, stopping and turning around to face him, "Ryan I know you want her dead..."

"Not just dead Griffon I want to rip her heart out with my bare hands," he interrupted, his jaw tightening as he thought about the pleasure he'd gain from it.

"Nevertheless, we don't know how many people she's still got at that compartment, it could just be one or two or it could be an entire team, we can't run in blind," Griffon had had the same idea as Ryan when it came to using her own base against her. Ryan sighed in frustration, Griffon was right, Barbara had mentioned that Josephine had hired several throwaways to help her, but the numbers were still unsure. They knew she had to have at least one medic there if their thoughts about her going there after the fire fight were correct, but who knew how many more she had there.

"So we go scope it out? Or send a couple trackers to do it," Ryan bargained, Griffon looked up at him, her eyes were filled with sadness at how obsessed he'd become since Hayley's death and Ryan saw it, "Grif, please, we can treat it like any other job, please," he was begging now. Griffon could see how much this meant to him and she eventually crumbled.

"Fine, I'll get Aleks and Kira on it this afternoon and O can check it in the evening," Ryan thanked her, kissing her cheek lightly before rushing off again, jogging past Geoff as he entered the corridor. He raised a questioning brow at Griffon who waved a hand at him, signalling for him to follow.

"Ryan wants us to check that compartment for any rivals, I told him I'd get the trackers on by this afternoon," she told him as they entered the elevator.

"The guy wants this over and done with, can't say I blame him, I know he wants off Jack's couch as much as Jack wants to be able to trust him with a gun again," Geoff sighed, letting his arm fall around Griffon's shoulder and pulling her in close to him; planting a kiss on her temple. Ryan's obsession was effecting everyone, but the sooner they got rid of it, the sooner they could put him back on jobs, the sooner he'd start healing properly. They could all tell that Ryan hadn't fully excepted what had happened and that he was keeping himself busy so he didn't have to deal with it, but until he did he wasn't reliable on the field and if someone wasn't reliable or fully focused mistakes could happen.

True to her word, Griffon set their trackers on look out duty of the compartment at the docks, all three promising to return with information the next morning, until then the whole team was once again at a loose end. Trying to keep themselves busy and work through the hours until they all left for home and the usual pacing commenced.


	12. Starts At The Close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Over And Over - Three Days Grace**   
>  **21st Century Breakdown - Green Day**   
>  **Search And Destroy - Thirty Seconds To Mars**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

**Ryan was back in the warehouse. Josephine stood in front of him on the truck bed with Dan Gruchy beside her, his gun pointing towards Ryan's chest. The rest of Josephine's team were there as well, each one of their blank faces turned towards him as they stared down the barrels of their guns. A slight wind blew through the loading dock, wafting the metallic stench of blood beneath Ryan's nostrils, he cringed at the smell, turning his head and scrunching up his eyes as he held back the urge to vomit.  
When he opened them again he was looking at his left side, where Geoff and Griffon should have been stood with their pistols poised and ready to shoot the rivals between the eyes, in stead he locked eyes with Geoff's unmoving corpse, his mouth open in a yell and bullet wounds scattered across his torso and one across his neck that still trickled blood. His arm was stretched toward Ryan but had stopped a few feet short. Beside him was Griffon, her face hidden beneath blood soaked hair and behind her lay Lindsay her face turned toward Ryan, her body half resting on Michael's chest both unmoving with Jack sprawled beside them, a gun still clutched in his hand and blood slipping from his mouth in to his beard.**

**Ryan gagged, turning his face away from them and looking to his other side where Meg and Gavin were lay in the same bloodied state. When Ryan looked back at Josephine both she and Dan were grinning manically, their gun's still pointing at him, but now Hayley sat on the truck bed as well with her feet swinging off the side. Her face was spattered with blood, as were her clothes, the bullet wounds that had killed her still visible.**

**"Why did you give in to her?" Hayley asked, her voice echoed off the walls. It was then that Ryan realised the stickiness of his hands and clothing. Looking down he saw the empty bullet cases around him; two quick fire, automatic pistols clutched in bloody hands that shone a violent red in the light. He looked up again expecting to be staring at Hayley on the truck bed, instead he stared at her lifeless body on the loading dock. Josephine stood beside him placing a hand on his arm as she went on tip top to whisper in his ear,**

**"I guess you can't trust a crazy person," she told him, a sadistic tone lacing it way through her voice. Ryan wanted to scream, but all he could do was stare at the dead bodies of his team, his family at Josephine placed a gun to his temple.**

Ryan woke with a start, pushing himself in to a sitting position on the couch. His body was drenched in sweat, the thin night shirt and bottoms clinging to his skin as he attempted to regain control of his breathing. A light came on in the hall as Jack stepped through the door, his shadowy figure almost filling it as he clicked on a lamp.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his face pale and eyes scared as he approached Ryan. The other man nodded, staring around himself as he sat properly on the couch so Jack could perched beside him. Ryan could feel tears welling in his eyes as his friend sat down next to him, the couch bowing slightly under the combined weight, "you sure?". Ryan couldn't hold it in as he shook his head, letting it fall in to his hands as tears fell from his eyes and gasped sobs racked his body. Jack moved beside him, pulling him to his side and letting him cry in to his shoulder loudly; his hands scrambling to clutch at the back of Jack's night shirt.

The paired stayed like that until light began to filter through the curtains that covered the living room windows. Ryan had fallen back in to an uneasy sleep but Jack hadn't returned to bed, he stayed with his friend as the pair squished on to the sofa. Ryan using Jack's thigh as a pillow while Jack leant his head on his arm, dozing off with his other arm wrapped around the gent's shoulder. The pair barely stirred when Caiti came down stairs before leaving for work, waking Jack up momentarily to say bye.

A few hours later and everyone was back in the base waiting to hear of Geoff and Griffon about what the trackers had found during their stake out of compartment building E1-2.

Ryan had woke up in Jack's lap, his mind still racing after the nightmare but thankful that his friend hadn't left him alone. He'd gone back home then, showering quickly and trying to relieve himself of the awful images and worries as he got dressed and drove to work with Meg and Gavin in the back seat of his car.

All three trackers had shown up at the base around 11am but Griffon had intercepted them before anyone, particularly Ryan, could beg them for information first. She and Geoff had been locked away in one of the conference rooms almost three hours and it was fair to say that the rest of team was starting to run out of things to keep themselves busy with around the base.

Finally, at 2:12pm, the three trackers left the base and the team were called in to the conference room with Griffon and Geoff stood at the front. Everyone seemed restless as they waited for Griffon and Geoff to start. Clenching fists and bouncing legs were hidden beneath the table but betrayed the calm masks that everyone was trying to maintain.

"Right so as instructed the trackers staked out E1-2 as a potential base of operations for Josephine. Obviously it was a guess and so we didn't expect much back, so be dishearted with what we have," Griffon told them, everyone continued to gaze at her unmoving as they tried to get her to continue.

"So the first thing they said is that, the area surrounding E1-2 is pretty much deserted, it seems that the dock staff stay away from there for whatever reason... maybe they've been paid off we don't know," Geoff informed them, "however the people that do seem to wander around there, and in and out the buildings are similar looking to those we fought in the warehouse... grubby, unkept, seem untrained to our standards, basic disposables that Josephine and Caleb would have got hold of easily,"

"And what about the witch herself? She make any appearances?" Meg asked, looking up through her fringe as she broke her gaze off the area of table in front of her.

"From one days stake out, we can't say how often she goes there," Griffon said, her voice calm as she kept Meg's eye, "but O did spot her making a small rounds of the complex, arriving around ten and leaving again before eleven, other than that she seems to lay low at the safe house,"

"Okay so we can grab her there, easy, how many disposables are we talking about within the complex?" Ryan asked, he was only person in the room (other than Geoff and Griffon) that had chosen to stay standing and he was bouncing lightly on his feet with the pent up anger and energy that had started coursing through his veins.

"Kira said that she's got two guards posted out front and Aleks said there's at least another two at the back. Add in to that the three to five that take fag breaks every two hours on rotation and two others that looked like medics, we're talking at least eleven, which out numbers us," Geoff ran off, scanning over the noted paper on the table. His voice dropped at the last section, casting a heartbroken silence over the room.

Ryan was running the numbers in his head. Eleven... two of those were medics which meant they would have very basic, if any, gun experience, while the rest were disposables, hell even the trackers had managed to notice that they weren't trained after just a few hours of stake-out. Everyone in this crew could easily take out a group of ten on their own, hell it had taken five highly trained members of the group to take Hayley down in a controlled environment. Nine untrained disposables would be easy.

"I know what you're thinking Ryan, I'm not taking on a group that out number us, no matter how little training they have," Griffon called, breaking his train of thought.

"So gas the fuckers first. Knock them out then we do clean up, it'd take less than half an hour," Ryan fired back, taking a step from the wall and standing behind Michael. They'd done it before it was usual protocol when they wanted in and out of a high security area without alarms being raised. Both Michael and Gavin had spent weeks perfecting a colourless and scentless gas that only took seconds to disable an enemy and took almost five hours to wear off completely.

"That involves a lot of set up that we can't do Ryan," Geoff told him stepping around Griffon out of a protective habit, so that Ryan hit him before he got to Griffon.

"No it wouldn't!" Ryan cried, running a hand through his hair. Michael had visibly tensed in front of him, his head tilted so he had Ryan and Geoff in his peripherals. Beside him Gavin was also watching the confrontation, his body turned so he had his back to Jack with his hands ready to push himself up in case Ryan took another step. Ryan sighed, turning his attention to the two lads, "Guys you spent weeks putting that gas together ans it works a fucking treat, surely you could work it to a canister format," Ryan was begging now, his eyes pleading with the hearts of his team to let him get revenge and prevent his wife's killer getting away again. Michael and Gavin looked at each other, communicating silently as they ran through the basic formats for what they'd need... it could be done, easily.

Michael turned his head toward Geoff who had been watching their silent workings, "We can do it Geoff, if we start working on it today we can the prototype ready by tonight, the real thing by tomorrow," Geoff nodded, he knew his lads could do it, but the final call had to come from Griffon who had her own questions.

"Okay, so say we do get it done, how do we get it inside the building with guards on the doors?" this was basic testing, she knew the ideas that her team could come up with but she had to make sure that they were all still thinking clearly enough to not run in with their guns blazing.

"If there's two guards at each door we can snipe. Me and Ray could take one, Meg and Lindsay could take the other, or whatever," Tina spoke up, "Once the guards are taken out, you and Geoff are free to take out anyone around the doors while Michael and Gavin deploy the gas..." she ran off, running through the job in her head before turning toward the lads, "Only takes twenty seconds to work right?"

"Five, we worked on an entirely new batch a few months ago when we had the gallery job," Gavin grinned giving Michael a high-five. Tina nodded and turned her attention back toward Griffon who was stood smirking. She nodded,

"It's good to see that you're all still thinking things through," she nodded, "you and Gavin can get the real canister ready by tomorrow afternoon?" She asked Michael and Gavin, the pair looked at each other,

"At the latest," Michael grinned. Griffon smiled back , falling in to leader mode easily as she turned and cleared the board of everything except the San Andreas map, drawing out a quick sketch of the area between the safe house and the complex.

"Right me, Geoff, Michael, Gavin, Meg, Tina and Ray will go to the warehouse, we clear everything out there and get prepared for the snitches arrival," She told them, the team quickly fell in their usual silence as they listened to the outlines of the job, "Ryan I know you want first dibs on Josephine so you can collect her from the safe house, but Jack and Lindsay are going with you, Lindsay you drive," Ryan pouted slightly but knew it was for the best. He couldn't promise not killing the girl as soon as he saw her if he was on his own.

"You drive her straight to the warehouse, we'll deal with her there and then when everything is said and done we can set the entire place alight and be done with everything once and for all," Griffon smiled around at her team as blood curdling smirks slid across their lips and their eyes filled with a fire that craved sacrifice in payment of revenge.


	13. Madness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **THISKIDSNOTALRIGHT - AWOLNATION**   
>  **Coming Back Down - Hollywood Undead**   
>  **Trees - Twenty One Pilots**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

As promised Michael and Gavin had the gas canisters ready before the afternoon the next day, and they'd even managed to rope a couple mercenaries in to helping test them which resulted in four very unconscious males lay in the hospital area despite Michael and Gavin insisting that they'd be fine. They did wake up a few hours later with serious headaches and lack of memory but all round completely well.

Griffon had had Kira and Aleks on tracker duty of the complex for the day while O was set to watch the safe house in case she went anywhere before her usual visit to the complex. They'd quickly reset the cameras of Josephine's 'safe' house the day before so Tina and Ray were watching that for the entire day; their eyes on the limited interior view while O kept watch on the outside. The other members of the team were busy as well.

Lindsay and Meg had been roped in to helping Michael and Gavin so they could get everything done quicker, which meant that Ryan had been put on garage duty with Jack while Geoff and Griffon made the final plans and double checked that all their ear pieces and microphones were working.  
Ryan enjoyed working in the garage, although he didn't do it often he enjoyed the time he spent in there with Jack. The large man usually enjoyed the silence of work, but working with Lindsay had got him in to the habit of listening to the radio even if it wasn't the best music or signal in the basement. The low clicks and squeaks as nuts and bolts were screwed and tightened in to their places was comforting and fought of the remnants of Ryan's nightmares that still haunted him.

In the lead up to this day Ryan's nightmares had become more frequent, sometimes lapsing over in to him being awake and unable to tell what was real and what wasn't. He was thankful that everyone kept him out of the weapons vault since the nightmares had caused him to second guess his trust himself.

Last night's dream had been a particularly questionable one that had shaken him to his core when Jack had woke him from it. He'd been in the safe waiting for Josephine to arrive. He was sat in the shadows on a sagging couch with his pistol hung loosely in his hand and his mask on. Jack was sat at the dining table, resting his head on his hand as he attempted to not fall asleep, and Lindsay was waiting for them outside in the van. Ryan had stood up with his back to Jack to stretch his legs, stretching his hands toward the ceiling before letting them fall back down, when he heard a small whisper,  
' _Behind you_ ' it laughed.  
Ryan turned without thinking bringing his gun up and firing... a bullet went straight through the middle of Jack's head before it fell off his hand, hitting the table with a wet thud as blood dripped from the wound and on to the wood; running across it and dripping in small drops to the floor. Ryan stared in shock at his friend that he'd just shot, when the door burst open and he turned to fire another shot... hitting Lindsay in the chest; stumbling she too fell to the floor, landing heavily on the short porch and revealing Josephine who was stood grinning wildly behind her.  
' _I knew we could never trust you..._ she croaked before a manic laugh began to fill the air in the house and consume Ryan's thoughts as he began to scream.

Jack had woke him up then, letting Ryan cling to him as he tried to calm back down.

Ryan shiver at the thought, dropping his tools a little harder than necessary on the metal table. Jack looked up at him,

"You okay?" he asked worried.

Ryan took a shaky breath before answering, "Do you trust me?" Jack stared at him, not knowing how to answer.

"Hey we know this has been hard for you Rye..."

"But do you trust me?" Ryan demanded turning his body to face Jack.

Jack took a breath, "I do... I still trust you completely, and I'm sure everyone else does as well... but you need to trust yourself otherwise this isn't going to work," Jack's face was serious as he looked at his team mate. The man that stood before him was no longer the once strong psychopath, that had been the battering ram of the crew, no stood the empty husk of a man who was wrapped in grief, fear, and worry. Everyone knew that Ryan still hadn't fully dealt with Hayley's death, they were only just dealing with it themselves but Ryan still seemed unable to comprehend it. He hadn't stopped working since the event and it was showing.

Ryan barely slept and when it did it was racked by nightmares, he ran himself to dropping point everyday and then would still try to work at home only to get annoyed at himself because he couldn't concentrate. He'd forgotten to shave and so sported a scruffy bread that covered his jaw and thin cheeks. He hadn't picked up a gun since Hayley's death either, and the team couldn't decide if it was because they were stopping him or if he was stopping himself for fear that he couldn't be trusted.

Jack walked toward Ryan, taking him by the shoulders and forcing the other man's attention,

"I know it's been hard Ryan, and you know you've not dealt with Hayley's death properly," Ryan cringed at the mention of Hayley's name, her desk still lay untouched in their home, as did her clothes that still filled the wardrobe and chest of drawers, her shower and bath stuff still took up space in the bathroom; her skull mask still hung beside the front door above her boots.

"Ryan if you don't trust yourself then don't push it. We can take out Josephine no problem, but I know you want your revenge, and I honestly don't think you're going to deal with anything until you've got that," Jack told him, Ryan stared at him with glassy eyes as he took in the trust and understanding of his friend, "I still trust you Ryan, I know you won't hurt any of us," with that Jack pulled the other Gent toward him, wrapping Ryan in a tight hug which he returned.

Ryan might have been going made, but if his friends trusted him then he could deal with it... if not make the madness work and give him a whole new name.


	14. For A Hundred Grand...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Song to go with this chapter is:**   
>  **Waiting - Green Day**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoyed writing this chapter purely cause I got to include one of my favourite Gavin/Ryan interactions,  
> (Mega Dig - part 2 31:40 - 33:05)

That evening everyone lay in wait... The trackers had been called back in during the day to keep a literal eye and ear on both places, with Kira and Aleks managing to get small microphones in to certain areas of the complex so they could hear information that was being exchanged close to the door ways, and O keeping a eye on the limited camera surveillance that they'd managed to replant around the safe house.

All three trackers were still on the clock when the crew moved out of the base to take their positions.

As promised Ryan was on the pick up team with Jack and Lindsay, his mind still carrying a slight unease but a lot more rested than it had been when he'd been speaking to Jack in the garage. If his team mates could trust him he could trust himself.  
They were parked in their usual black van in an alley just two blocks north of the safe house, they'd move in once O gave them the clear that she'd gone back to the docks (A small bit of information they'd picked up thanks to Kira and Aleks' microphones) and then just lie in wait for her to come back, knowing that she wouldn't be at the complex for more than an hour at max.

The rest of the team had been spread between two vans, hidden between two of the older complexes that lined the main shore, while Josephine's base was located on the man made floating island. The snipe teams were already set and waiting close to the complex, hidden in and around the shipment containers with their sights on the complex, while Griffon, Geoff, Michael and Gavin had stayed with the vans, communicating with the sniper team, and pick up team, over the van's intercom. They we're waiting on Aleks and Kira's signal that Josephine had arrived and then that she'd left. Once she'd arrived the sniper team would get in to better potions so they could watch the doors, and once she had left and passed the bosses they could take out the door guards.

The teams knew that it only took Josephine ten minutes to drive from her safe spot to the base and back, and that she only spent a maximum of an hour inside the base, so they had to clear out the complex as quickly as possible because as soon as she got back to the house she'd be confronted with Ryan and Jack who could but her down easily.

The vehicles had remained silent for most of their time but now Gavin was busy trying to entertain them all with hypothetical questions, his majority calculated toward Ryan and Meg, since they both seemed the most anxious about the whole situation.

"Okay Ryan," Gavin called through the intercom in the van he was sharing with Michael. An audible sigh hissed through the speaker.

"What now Gavin?" Ryan asked, his voice slightly irritated but amused as his nerves rolled from his mind thanks to the lad's laid back persona and stupid questions.

"You get a hundred grand, but for the rest of your life, er, the only way to blink, and like stop your eyes from drying out, is for you to thumb your bell-end. Like you have to like grab your knob and just touch your thumb to the tip of your penis," Gavin bargained. Ryan chuckled his head falling in to hands as he debated the stupidity of his team mate. After a moments silence Gavin asked, "So are we doing it?"

"What?" Ryan asked, his voice tired.

"Hundred grand?" Gavin asked again.

"What, how we doing it? You gonna give me a hundred grand right now?" Ryan asked, a smile in his voice as he pushed the lad, "you gonna write me a cheque?"

"No, like would you do it?" Gavin pressed, as much as everyone hated the hypothetical questions they did fill the time just stake outs, and if it meant that he got money Ryan would always joke about being up for anything.

"I don't... who gives a fuck, you're not gonna pay me," the gent tried to brushed off. He was tired and restless and sick of staring at the same of the alley way waiting to kill some bitch that he could have gone after days ago.

"Well I can't, it's impossible, it's what happens with a hypothetical question," Gavin scoffed trying to keep the gent talking despite the noises of annoyance coming from Michael beside him and Griffon and Geoff in the other van.

"I'll fucking do it! You want me to touch my dick every time I wanna blink?" Ryan questioned, snapping slightly at the younger team member and causing him to laugh, "I'll get a fucking GoPro and walk around with it for a year so you can see me do it. Give me my god damn money" by this point everyone was in slight shock trying to hold in laughs to prevent a laughter chain carrying to the sniper team. Ryan grinned as his team mates fell apart at his come back, they'd been stressed and some how a jokey stake out seemed to be what everyone needed.

"I don't wanna see it," Gavin gasped over the com, still chuckling Ryan shot back.

"You're the one that wanted... You put this forward, it was in your brain, you must have wanted to watch!

"No!" Gavin tried to defend but Ryan wasn't finished. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to tear apart and lay in to Gavin whether it was verbally or during training.

"Fucking, sick bastard. I'm not gonna judge you for your perversions but you got 'em," everyone was almost in tears now from holding back the laughter, their breath coming in small wheezes, and Ryan could hear Michael telling Gavin that he'd just been eviscerated across the microphones. As everyone slowly began to quieten down, more so for the sake of the sniper team than anyone else, static stirred through the cab of Griffon and Geoff's van.

"Ramsey, it's O, snitch is on the move, over," the first tracker said as he watched the lights of Josephine's safe house flicker off before she snuck through the front window, leaving it gapped slightly so she could get back in since the safe house doors were alarmed after a certain time by the police protection. The easiness that everyone had been sharing quickly fell away as Geoff relayed the message to Ryan once O gave the all clear that she was a couple blocks south, and the first team began to move in. Meanwhile Griffon told the sniper team to stay alert, since the target was moving, as well as contacting Kira and Aleks to make sure they were out of sight before Josephine arrived

Everything was about to come to an end and the night had only just begun.


	15. It Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Songs to go with this chapter are:**   
>  **Nature Of The Experiment - Tokyo Police Club**   
>  **Stubborn Stitches - The Duke Spirit**   
>  **Endtapes - The Joy Formidable**   
>  **Full soundtrack available at:**   
>  **https://open.spotify.com/user/1123043947/playlist/7iLgZLR6yKz1Fw8yMWHNO4**   
> 

Getting in to the safe house, while easy, hadn't been the most graceful move by the two large males as they pulled themselves through the small front window that Josephine hadn't exited. Ryan had been the first to go in, pushing the window up and hoisting himself on to the window sill causing the old wood to creak slightly under his weight. He turned carefully, pulling one leg up to his chest so that he could twist in to the small living room.

Ryan paused for a second listening to the slow creaks and pops as the house cooled, now that it's occupant had left, as well as the almost silent shuffling of Jack on the dead grass outside.

"Right seems clear, come on up Jack," Ryan whispered through the window, stepping further in to the small living room as Jack's hands gripped the window ready to pull himself up. With a grunt the front half of Jack was through the window, the frame creaking and threatening to break in protest.

"Jesus Christ, how the hell did you get through this?" Jack questioned gruffly, trying to wiggle his leg through and getting it caught on the frame, "Oh fuck," was the last thing he got out as he lost his balance and fell in to the room with a loud thud. Ryan turned, but wasn't quick enough to catch his falling team mate as he hit the floor, his right foot still hooked on the window frame and his left leg half hanging out too.

"What the hell was that? Are guys okay?" Geoff's voice rang, in their ears. Ryan tried to hold in his laughs as he unhooked Jack's jean's from the splintering wood.

"Yeah don't worry Geoff, it just that Jack and small windows don't mix well," he gasped, helping his team mate up.

"Alarms or not, we are not leaving here via the window," Jack grumbled, taking Ryan's offered help and causing him to grin.

"Right well be careful guys, the targets just passed us on the way to her base... Sniper team and trackers, keep low," Geoff told them and the other members, whispering clicks backing his words as Griffon, Michael and Gavin loaded up their guns and knock out gas. Ryan took a breath, his eyes adjusting to the darkness while Jack re-closed the window and dusted off his jeans.

"Well seems like we're just playing the waiting game now," Ryan said, stepping through the living room toward the kitchen. The men's footsteps echoed through the small wooden house, sounding too loud against the quiet darkness.

"We're probably best searching for weapon's, make sure she's got nothing she can make a quick grab for," Jack suggested. Ryan agreed, since neither of them were wearing armour, and together the two began scanning every surface, underside, and crack or crease for anything that could be a potential weapon. The search turned up nothing too worrying, an empty pistol, a few throwing knives and a set of three kitchen knives. Ryan pocketed the throwing knives, recognising the brand as that which Hayley had formally used before she upgraded everything, while Jack placed the empty pistol in the waist band of his jeans. The kitchen knives we're hidden in the bedroom, since it was the furthest room from the window that Josephine would be entering through, and meant that she'd have to get past Ryan and Jack in order to find anything of use.

Almost half an house passed before they heard anything from Geoff again saying that Josephine had just left the base. Lindsay groaned pulling herself in to the driver's seat of the van and making sure it was out of sight of the house. She'd been bored shitless in the time that Jack and Ryan had been searching Josephine's place, resulting in her begging the two Gents to play 'Two truths, One lie' which had resulted in some interesting information, including Ryan being a male model at some point before he became a lunatic, and Jack being a World Champion at Air Hockey.  
Now things were about to get serious, she was listening to Griffon, Geoff, Michael and Gavin as they coordinated their way toward the complex; the sniper team splitting so the Tina and Meg taking the front which was more heavily guarded while Ray took the back entrance where he was meeting up with Griffon and Gavin. Both Kira and Aleks were left to stay quiet until all the guards outside and guys inside were taken out, then they were helping with clean up while O made sure the pick up went smoothly.

Ryan and Jack on the other hand we're still fairly laid back, even with the adrenaline creeping it's way through their muscles both men had already planned out how this was going to go.  
The house was that dark that it took a good couple minutes for anything but slightly lumpy silhouettes to gain any kind of detail, they were using this to their advantage. Ryan was going to stay sat on the couch, between the window and the bedroom door, while Jack stayed behind the small partitioning wall between the living room and the kitchen. Both guys could see each other and watch the window without being spotted right away, and if Ryan gained Josephine's attention quick enough she'd never spot Jack which meant he could grab her from behind. Thanks to Jack's ungraceful entrance they'd had to change their escape plan, finding the police alarm on the front lock easily and disarming it so they could leave.

The minutes seemed to move at a snails pace before the sound of a car's engine clicking off grabbed their attention. Low, clicking footsteps made their way up the pavement and in to the dead grass, the vegetation crunching underfoot as the window was slide up and two hands appeared on the sill. Ryan and Jack watched as Josephine yanked and twisted her way through the window almost silently, closing and locking it behind her once she was stood firmly on the floor. She turned, stretching and revealing a small pistol tucked against her hip. She winced slightly, the still healing wound in her shoulder pulling at the stitches as she rolled it, limping slightly she walked further in to the room unfastening the holster from her hip as she walked; chucking it on to the couch.

Ryan dodged it, causing the couch fabric to rustle slightly as he pulled the gun from it's holder with a grin, Josephine still hadn't spotted him and she was half way toward the kitchen. Holding the gun loosely in his hand he grinned, a sly tone coating his voice as he began to talk,

"You know I haven't held a gun since our little scuffle," he joked, "how's the shoulder?". Josephine froze in place, her eyes widening as she turned to focus on the couch and Ryan as he seemed to materialise from the darkness, a wicked grin on his face and a fire in his eye. She mentally shook herself, scanning his laid back position in comparison to the gun that he held.

"It's healing, how's Hayley? Heard it was a lovely funeral," she taunted, watching as Ryan's grip tightened around the gun, his finger twitching toward the side of the trigger. Jack could tell she was going to push him but he trusted his team mate, and as much as he wanted to kill this bitch he knew that everyone on his team also wanted a slice. Ryan wouldn't kill her yet, he wanted to make her suffer.

"She's at peace now," Ryan said keeping his voice level, "in fact I must thank you for your actions, it gave us even more of a reason to come after you,".

"In honesty I thought you'd come sooner, I expected some sort of gang attack not a lone psycho," Josephine's voice shook as she watched the man in front of her, the hint of anguish that she'd ignited by asking about Hayley's funeral had vanished, leaving his face a hard shell of anger and underlying psychotics.

"Oh trust me, you'll get to see everyone," Ryan said darkly, his eyes flicking to Jack and causing her to turn, giving him enough time to shoot her once in the knee and send her to the ground with a yell. Jack stepped behind her, grabbing her arms and pulling them tightly behind her back as he hoisted her up. Ryan pushed himself up from the couch, walking over to them as she struggled against Jack's solid grip.

"Everyone is so looking forward to seeing you," he chuckled, hitting her in the temple with the butt of the pistol; knocking her unconscious in a single hit. Jack felt her go limp in his arms and loosened his grip slightly and hoisting her on to his shoulder, trying to avoid her now bloody knee.

"Did you really have to shoot her?" he moaned, following Ryan as he held open the front the door so Jack could carry her out to the van which Lindsay already had waiting outside of the house.

"It was an instinct," Ryan laughed, waving to Lindsay as she sat in the driver's seat, her window down. He made his way to the back of the van, pulling the doors open and climbing in so he could grab Josephine while Jack climbed in.

Lindsay drove quickly through the streets toward the complex, she'd got the all clear off Griffon just moments after Josephine had entered the safe house, and knew that the trackers were already on their way back home after helping to clear the few bodies in to an orderly pile. The complex was quiet when they got there with just the interior light shining around the doorway as they pulled up. Lindsay jumped out, knocking on the door so that Griffon would know it was them while Jack and Ryan yanked Josephine from the back of the van.

Inside the team had already set up the area, plastic already covered the floor around one of the supporting poles, a thick chain hanging from it with two pairs of metal handcuffs glittering on the end. The height of the cuffs meant that Josephine would be stretched out even if she supported herself on her tip toes, it also meant that every inch of her was accessible to the team so they could have a little fun. They all grinned wickedly as Jack carried the snitch in holding her up while they stuck a chair beneath her and fastened the cuffs tight around her wrists, leaving her to hang until she woke up.

"Really guys? She's bleeding already," Meg tutted, but her smirk made it clear that she didn't really care.

"I couldn't resist, she practically threw her gun at me," Ryan defended helping to hold up the dead weight, "fair enough she didn't know I was there when she threw it, but who throws their gun on the couch before going to bed?" he questioned. Meg nodded as she leant against Gavin, his arm around her shoulder,

"Completely unprofessional," she murmured shaking her head as they fastened the last cuff and let her drop, the metal cutting in to her skin slightly but not seeming to wake her while they tried to work her lips apart with a piece of rolled duck tape, "Jesus Ryan how hard did you hit her?" she joked, spotting the already forming bruise on her temple.

Ryan shrugged, "She was eager to see everyone," he tugged the tape tightly before rolling it around her face, crushing it slightly and causing the edges to drag against her skin, before wrapping one full strip around that stuck in her hair.

"Then lets get started," Griffon laughed.


	16. It Ends

Everyone stepped back as Geoff and Michael came through the door carrying a bucket of icy sea water each, their gas masks still hanging around their necks while everyone else's sat on a table that had been pushed roughly to the side, littered with the groups guns and spare clothing. Beside that sat a large metal barrel that like it had been used as a fire pit by Josephine's team since it was lined with charcoal and ash.

Griffon nodded to her husband as he pulled the bucket to his chest in front of Josephine,

"Ready Michael?" he asked the lad who was holding the bucket ready beside him, Michael nodded grip the edge of his bucket tighter, "One, two, three!" he yelled. The pair unleashed the icy water, perfectly covering Josephine head-to-toe and waking her with a start.

The traitor coughed and sputtered around the tape that had been placed in her mouth, tugging hopeless as the cuffs above her head while she fought to stay on the now very slippery metal chair. She shook her head, ignoring the throbbing in her temple as she attempted to shake the stray pieces of hair from her eyes; trying to regain her balance blindly so there wasn't as much strain on her shoulders. As her eyesight cleared it became apparent where she was.  
_How melodramatic, of course they wouldn't just kill her quickly, everyone wanted a turn but they weren't going to go out of their way to set up a special area just for her... Oh wait they had, it's just they were using her own base as the stage. Sickos_  
To her left Josephine could just make out the corpses of her throwaway team, they looked a lot better than those that had died in the fire fight looked. She attempted to stand straight before looking at her former team only to be crippled as the bullet in her knee shifted, almost causing her to lose balance again.

Small sniggers jumped through the group as they watched the snitch struggle to stay upright but finally she looked at them. Josephine's eyes landed on Griffon and Geoff first as they stood in front of her. Ryan stood just behind them along with Michael, but everyone else was on her right busily rummaging through something and murmuring to each other.

"Nice to see you Griffon, Geoff," Josephine attempted, her words muffled greatly by the thick tape as it cut in to the corners of her mouth. Griffon grinned sarcastically at her taking a step forward but not close enough that Josephine could grab her if she kicked out with her legs.

"I'm sure it is, although this is a very different set up to what you planned last time," she said her voice low and deadly, Josephine shrugged slightly narrowing her eyebrows.

"Just kill me and get it over with," Josephine muffled back, spit slipping down her chin and to her soaked t-shirt.

"Oh we'll get there but we have to get even first," Griffon threatened. Josephine's attention had been so locked on the boss that she hadn't noticed Ryan move beside her until her kicked the chair from beneath her causing to to skid and clank along the cement ground. She cried out at the sudden drop, the muscles in her arms screaming in protest as they locked above her, the cuffs around her wrists tightening an cutting in to the skin there. Attempting to regain some height Josephine pushed herself on to her toes, it was uncomfortable and was probably what the team had planned for her, but it was only thing that was going to stop her shoulders dislocating (at least for now).

Ryan chuckled at her cry as Griffon continued, telling Josephine exactly what was about to happen to her,

"As you may remember the last time we encountered you, you killed one of the greatest team mates and friends I know... On that same night you managed to kill a wife, a sister and a daughter. Now she is dead because you attempted to kill her sister because she is in a very stable relationship with someone you wanted while your psychotic ass was left in the dirt." Griffon recapped quickly, pacing back and forth in front of Josephine as she spoke in order to keep her attention while the rest of team got ready. "Now this is not your first offence to this team under any means, and while it was the final push that every seemed to need we have a long list to go through... So lets start from the top shall we?" Griffon laughed, gesturing to Tina who had moved behind her with a small knife that was shining orange from the fire it had been placed in.

Tina reacted quickly, using the small between Josephine's arm and neck to yank the knife across her throat, in the same place that she held a scar from one of early jobs together. Josephine attempted to scream as her neck surged with pain, the heat of the knife coagulating the blood quickly and turning the cut black. Tina laughed walking around Josephine as she writhed in pain, tears stinging her eyes.

"And that only the first one," she laughed. Josephine looked up at her, she was wearing a low cut, tight top that showed off the majority of scars on her chest. But they were only a few Josephine knew that she'd caused more than just the one on her neck ( _although she didn't cause it she just didn't help_ ). Tina watched over Josephine's shoulder as Michael and Lindsay tugged the fire pit over to her on a trolley, the couple cringing slightly from the heat as they placed it beside Josephine. Josephine's gaze snapped to they her eye brows narrowing in confusion,

"Oh don't worry about it Josephine, we know you didn't literally burn any of us," Tina smiled walking over to the pit and pushing her knife through one of the slits so it could reheat, "but there are a fair few of us here that need to get even, and we didn't want you bleeding out on us,".   
Tina pulled her knife back out of the barrel, slashing quickly across Josephine's leg, shredding the jeans and skin easily, "Remember when we were supposed to be training with blunts and you were stoned to tell the difference! I sure do!" she yelled as Josephine scream around the tape again, this time the tears fell freely down her cheeks, "how about the time you shot me, even though we'd called clear!" another stab this time, she went straight across Josephine's side cutting through the skin easily, her cooled knife letting the wound bleed slightly. Josephine was in tears now, her legs sagging uselessly beneath her and making the muscles in her shoulders scream.

The team continued like that, slowly marking Josephine's body just enough to get even. Lindsay ran her knife in quick slashes across Josephine's face, for when she set a shrapnel bomb off beside her without warning. Stabbed her in the legs for every bullet she'd failed to retrieve easily, including the one from the joint job.  
Griffon stabbed her in the shoulder, being sure to hit the stitches from where she'd got her the night she killed Hayley, as well as just punching her several times around the face and kicking her firmly in the stomach.

Every slice, kick, punch and stab was accompanied by a flurry of insults and hate that it seemed everyone in the team had held back for years. Even Fake AH joined in, adding to the insults and injuries with their own fists. Michael placed a few punches and kicks, re-enacting what Lindsay had gone through while in custody, busting her lip and causing blood to join the strings of spit that covered her shirt. Even Ray, Jack and Geoff threw in couple punches for every job they'd had to scrap and the life they'd had to leave behind because of Josephine.  
Gavin was the last lad to approach her. She was bloodied and bruised, drooling and sweating as she scrapped air in to her lungs, still trying to ready herself for another bout of fists. As Gavin stared at her he remember when she'd first walked in to the base for the joint job. She'd been nice, friendly, but it was obvious that she was the useless one of the team. Gavin's team would often joke that he was useless and a screw but he was actually very capable at certain things, Josephine hadn't even had that, she could use a gun and fight you off for a couple minutes, but it was clear that her main goal (especially for that heist) had been to get the weed and get fucked no matter the cost of her team. And not as Gavin watched her struggle to keep consciousness felt nothing but hatred. This was a woman that didn't care for anyone but herself. A women that had tried to kill his girlfriend out of jealousy and instead ended up killing her sister and his best friend's wife.

Josephine squinted up at Gavin through half-lidded eyes. She could see the hatred radiating from him as he leaned toward her and grabbed her face firmly with one hand, cutting the inside of her cheeks on her teeth,

"You're pathetic, and I can't wait for you to die," he spat, pushing her away and planting a kick in the centre of her chest causing her to slam back against the metal pole behind her. Josephine felt her ribs shift, she was certain that they were in pieces, small splinters stabbing at her lungs with every breath.

Then it was Meg's turn. She wanted desperately to kill Josephine there and then but knew that had been promised to Ryan, who had been stood silently watching each one of his friends enact their own revenge on this useless bag of flesh. There was one thing she knew how to do, something that would hurt and not kill her despite what everyone else had done. It was a family trade mark, the same way her mother had tortured the man that had killed her husband.

Without a second thought Meg pulled her knife from the barrel where it had been heating and dragged the blade quickly across her lower stomach. Josephine screamed as the blade, slide through her skin like butter; hot enough to stop serious bleeding but cold enough to still let small amounts of blood drip beneath her. Meg kept her face completely straight as she asked Griffon to hold Josephine's ankles from behind. Griffon nodded moving quickly in to position and yanking Josephine's feet back against the pole just in time for Meg to kick her in the middle of her back. In the time it took Josephine to register the kick, her guts had already left her body, hanging down to the floor in a great mass. She was screaming now, her muffled cries mixing with the slight gasps and gags of the team as they realised what had just happened.

Griffon shuffled off, standing near the door with her husband while the majority of the team stood just outside. The only one that hadn't moved was Ryan, he was still stood leaning casually against the wall, watching as Meg walked back to Josephine's front, his eyes fixed on the two women.

"You know," Meg said, her voice almost a whisper as she scanned Josephine's body and the bloody intestines at her feet, "you could survive this, if someone was to come through now and find you, you could survive. Sure it would take you a while but you'd recover," Josephine's glassy gaze looked up at her and behind the puffed, bruised and bleeding skin Meg could see the fear in her eyes. At this point she knew Josephine didn't want to live, the idea was tempting...  
_Just leave her hear, let her be found either dead or alive... if she was found alive and managed to recover the paranoia and mental trauma would probably kill her._  
But Meg knew that Ryan would never let her live as she ran her now red hot knife from the base of Josephine's throat to her navel, pressing light enough that she barely broke the skin. All the while Josephine writhed in pain tears running from her eyes as silent screams squeaked from her throat.

"You know my sister really hated you," Meg told her, dropping the knife beside her and stepping around the guts so she could grab Josephine's face, turning it to look at her, "she never liked you, she just put up with you cause you made for a decent driver and certain clients seemed to like you. But you've been on her hit list for years, and every single thing that has happened to you tonight, has been coming for you since day one," Meg pushed her face away stepping behind her and back toward the table and picking up a small bomb, barely larger than her palm but with enough explosive power to completely destroy her body once it was detonated. She smiled walking back toward Josephine as she spoke,

"You know there were points when Hayley's madness really shone through," she laughed, "the way she'd laugh as she ran someone through with a katana, how she'd spend hours creating ingestible acid bombs." Josephine watching Meg as she moved back in front of her, her eyes locked to the bomb while Meg continued to speak, "But there was always method, always a reason behind what she did. She loved her job for one, she focused on her team before herself, she lived simply so that myself and the rest of her family, both present and future could live better. And you killed her, so... this is for you," Meg smiled wildly as she thrust the bomb toward Josephine parting the gap in her lower stomach with her fist and setting the bomb inside. Josephine stared at her, feeling the phantom weight inside of her as Meg walked off, speaking to Ryan as he pushed himself off the wall and strode toward her.

"I know Meg said a lot, and I know that bombs only got about forty-five minutes on it so I'll be quick," he muttered, standing in front of Josephine with his arms crossed while she was still trying to comprehend that she now had a bomb inside of her instead of her intestine. Ryan clicked in her face, grabbing her attention before he continued,  
"You took the love of my life away from me, Josephine, I know you don't know what that feels like so let me describe it for you. It feels like the world has no meaning anymore, nothing seems to make you happy, but your also not sad, you're just kind of empty. Every little thing somehow manages to remained me of her, the smell of coffee, the ring of knife, the gentle thud of feet on a treadmill, lavender and bluebells." Ryan paused, swallowing the lump that had started to form in his throat, "But most of all, when you killed her, it felt as though someone had ripped my heart in two,".

Josephine was locked on Ryan now. The tears that ran down her face weren't so much from the pain or fear, they were from regret. Hayley and Josephine may not have liked each other but Meg had been right when she said that Hayley put everyone before herself. She'd never been selfish and every choice she'd made she'd done with the right mentality, and the thought that she was protect her friends. Josephine had never done that. Now she was getting what she deserved, as she watched Ryan pull her throwing knives from his pocket. He turned them slowly in his hands before looking up at her. The fire had returned as he plunged the first in to her chest, just below the collar bone, the second went in her stomach and the third between two of her lower ribs on her right side.

Ryan stepped back, watching as the remaining cloth beneath the blades began to stain red, he then pulled another knife from his back pocket. It was medium in length with a double blade and despite her pain Josephine knew that it was one of Hayley's. It's black blade shone dully in the light of the fire, turning it a dark orange as Ryan gripped the handle tightly in his hand,

"My heart was ripped in to Josephine, let me show you how that feels," those were Ryan's final words as he stepped forward, clutching her neck tightly and stabbing the blade between Josephine's fourth and fifth rib, straight in to her heart. Josephine choked out a final breath as Ryan pulled the knife from her body, the corpse hanging loose from the chains. He heard footsteps behind him as Meg walked toward him, placing a light hand on his shoulder,

"Come on, lets go home," she whispered. Ryan nodded wrapping an arm around her shoulder as he followed her toward the door and waiting vans. Griffon, Geoff, Lindsay and Michael had already loaded them up, and set the building ready for ignition as they stepped from the door, Geoff offering Ryan a match box which he denied, pulling Hayley's red zippo from the pocket of his jacket and gently touching it to the petrol that now lined the floor.

As the pair climbed in to the final van, they watched as the complex began to leak smoke, and grinned as they heard the echo of an explosion over the water as they headed back home.


	17. Breath And Heal

That evening everyone returned to their homes in a sober peace and for the first night every seemed to sleep soundly.

Ryan returned to his own house knowing that he could finally deal with Hayley's death. As he pushed open the door it no longer felt empty, Ryan could finally feel that he wasn't really alone and as he showered, throwing his clothes in the wash basket he breathed in every ounce of love that Hayley had left in the house.

It was still early, barely three am when Ryan stepped back out in to the night. Walking quietly to the small beach, that was close to their street, and hopping in to one of the small boats there; directing it through the water and in to the open sea. It didn't take long for him to reach the rocky island in the middle of the unclaimed waters but this time he wasn't surrounded by the sadness of his friends and family, now he was alone, and while heartache still tugged at the edges of his mind he allowed himself to bask in the happiness that came from his memories.

Early memories of first running in to Hayley and the Red Snakes as she ran grinning from the liquor store she'd just set a light. The night that she'd first turned up at his apartment and held a gun to his head while desperately trying to keep her focus on his face and not his lack of clothing. Every night after that where they laughed, and fucked and comforted each other as they fell more and more in to a pattern of need and love.  
Later memories of them working more closely after Josephine left. Her fucking smirk that would forever be used as her mug shot. The deadly fire in her eyes as hung out of the helicopter blowing up every cop in sight, and the childish fun she seemed to find in training and her work. The small crease that formed between her brows as she worked on a new piece of equipment or tested a new weapon.

Ryan sat on the rocks, his eyes glistening as he stared out to sea, the knife that had killed Josephine beside him. Ryan and Hayley had worked in a way that he'd never thought possible in this line of work. They were professional and loving and careful not to leave anything to chance.

But work weren't thankfully the only memories Ryan had of Hayley. He had every memory of her coming home from a job, ravenous and caffeine deprived. Her disapproving and yet loving looks as she tutted at him for living on junk food and not doing any actual shopping. Sleepy morning groans as she begged for ten more minutes on their days off; her arms wrapping around his waist and pulling him back against her. He had every memory of carrying her to bed because she'd fallen asleep on the couch, reading a book or a file or trying to finish some level on a video game.

Ryan smiled as he thought about Hayley and how he'd never have her back. But he was thankful for the marks that she'd left on this world and everyone around her (both hypothetical and real) and he couldn't help but laugh as he stood up, picking the knife off the ground next to him.

"We had a good life Hayley, I just wish it could've been longer," he croaked, bringing his arm back and throwing the knife in to the darkness. The moon's pale light catching the waves as they shifted and rippled after the object, "I'm going to miss you dear," he whisper before turning and making his way back to his boat.

It was over and Ryan knew that everything was about to start again. Now, everyone could start healing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that't it...
> 
> Thank you everyone that has commented and left kudos and what not. This was really fun story to write, if slightly heart-wrenching at moments, so I'm pretty sad that it's over. However I'm eternally thankful that I can get started on new projects now.
> 
> Might end up writing a small epilogue (like a four years on or something) yet but only if you guys want it.   
> Thanks again, I'll see you soon :) xoxo


	18. Epilogue

The months that followed the death of Hayley and inevitable demise of Josephine had been a whirlwind to say the least.

The first few media stories had leaked out after Hayley's death, their main question was 'Where have these psychos gone?'. There were multiple theories of course: They'd all died in a gang war, the police had finally apprehended them but this time kept everything quiet to prevent another breakout, they'd moved on to terrorise another city and it's people?

Of course everything became clear as the newly blasted E1-2 complex was shown smoking on every screen through out San Andreas and Los Santos. Of course a couple bones were found, enough to identify the victims including Josephine and enough to shake every snitch and wannabe to their core as they realised they weren't even safe under police protection.  
After that is was clear to the media that the crew had come back with a bang. Not long after the news of Josephine hit the screens another wave of crime set it through both cities. The first had been a large jewellers in Los Santos, then the Maize Bank, a priceless piece of art was snatched in transport between galleries, retail stores, strip clubs, gambling joints, the list never seemed to end and neither did the work.

Although the crew could now start dealing with the loss of their best friend and team mate it didn't mean work stopped. If anything their grief pushed them to be better criminals than they'd ever been before, even carrying out a few plans that Hayley had swept in to her desk and forgotten.

But no matter how hard you run, and fight, and deal with death it soon comes right back round to punch you in the face; the media managed just that.

After almost two months of heists without Hayley, the police and media soon realised they were missing a Reaper. Once again the news was flooded with theories, it even became apparent that the crew had small fan clubs scattered throughout the city, as social media became a bubble of worse and best case scenarios. Some went as far to analysis the Reaper's past and how she'd worked never to be taken down by anyone before, while others noted that since her body language had changed toward the other Reaper (Ryan) she must have let herself slip and ended up dead.

Those comments were usually the hardest for the team to hear, Hayley had never let herself slack. She was dead because she was first one to realise what Josephine was doing and taken action. Of course the good news seemed more vocal and some of the theories even cheered the crew up enough that they were laughing. Some theories rumoured that she'd ran off with one of the mercenaries which was why the Ryan seemed super psycho on his own, while others stated that she'd probably got bored because the rest of a team weren't a challenge for her and so had gone solo.

"Ha, not a challenge, if they saw how much I could kick butt they'd be writing their fanfics about me," Meg had voiced one day after reading the theory to the group one Sunday evening.

"They are writing fanfics about you, or more slash fics? A lot of them are shipping you with Tuggey," Ryan joked scrolling through a another page on his phone.

"Hey, it's Jones now you fuck!" Lindsay yelled from the pool where she was swimming with Gavin, Geoff and Michael... or rather watching Geoff and Michael drown Gavin, while Griffon cooked the burgers on the barbecue.

"Oh yeah, sorry Lindsay," Ryan chuckled, continuing to scroll.

"If you're done reading fanfiction about my girls Ryan," Griffon called from the other side of the garden, "why don't you start putting these burgers in buns. Geoff! Michael! Stop drowning the poor boy and come eat, I can barely hear myself think over the squawking!" Geoff and Michael laughed pushing themselves up from the water and revealing a very fluttered and gasping Gavin as he scrambled to the edge and clung there meekly. Michael could barely get his apology out for laughing to hard, but in the end he gave up, drying himself quickly on a towel and grabbing tow burgers for himself and Lindsay as they sat in the shade.

"Hey Michael there's a few good fics about you and Gavin," Meg laughed watching as the boys winked at each other, "and some rather graphic ones about Ryan and Geoff, gotta say they make even me a little flustered.

The whole group laughed as the boss cringed, almost turning in to a complete bumbling wreck as Ryan blew a ketchup lipped kiss in his direction causing him to hide behind his wife.

Everything wasn't better, but it was getting there. They all knew that they'd never fully recover from the hole that Hayley had left in the team and in their family, but by focusing on all the good that she'd caused in their everyday lives... they might just make it through.


End file.
